The North South Foundation (NSF) and the India Association of New Hampshire (IANH) hosted the annual Vocabulary, Spelling and Math Bees at the Manchester Community College on Saturday March 28th, 2009. Essay Writing, Geography Bee and Public Speaking Competitions were held on Saturday April 4th, 2009 at the Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester.

It was a perfect weather on the 28th for the event, to which more than a hundred participants arrived. There were students who participated in multiple Bees. If the students were nervous, they definitely did not show it. They came in well prepared for the event. Many parents acknowledged that they were more anxious than their children; so too thought the volunteers at the front desk.

The first, second and third places for Math Level 1 went to Ankita Devasia, Rohan Kumar and Anvitha Kachinthaya; to Ankur Sundara, Deepika Kurup and Nikhil Karnane in Math Level 2; and to Anish Thilagar, Neil Shah, and Anjithaa Radakrishnan in Math Level 3. The first, second and third places for Junior Spelling Bee went to Sarika Chawla, Ankita Devasia and Nikhila Hari; and for Senior Spelling Bee to Nisha Devasia, Varsha Harish, and Hrushikesh Yemme. The first, second and third places for Junior Vocabulary Bee went to Tarang Saluja, Ankita Devasia and Chithra Singareddy; and for Senior Vocabulary Bee went to Nisha Devasia, Varun Palnati, and Shiva Nathan.

On April 4, 2009, the Essay Writing, Geography, and Public Speaking Bees were held at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.  The day began with the Junior and Senior Essay Writing Bees, in which students in grades three through eight participated.  This was followed by the Junior and Senior Geography Bees, in which students in grades one through eight attended.  After lunch, seven participants in grades six, seven, and eight competed in the Public Speaking Bee. There were a total of about fifty students who participated in various contests during the day. 

Nisha Devasia, Aditya Shah, Aanchal Gupta secured first, second, and the third ranks in the Junior Essay Group. Mallika Iyer, Ashwin Raghurajan, and Anjithaa Radhakrishnan secured first, second, and the third ranks in the Intermediate Essay contest. In Junior Geography Bee Sneha Prasath won third place, with Tarang Saluja in second place and Pranav Veluri in first.  The winners of the Senior Geography Bee were Nisha Devasia in first place, Ashwin Raghurajan in second, and Neil Shah in third place. Anjithaa and Avvinash Radhakrishnan, in 7th and 8th grades, won first and second places respectively in the Junior Public Speaking contest. 

Overall, the event was a great success. Everyone involved, specifically the administration and technical teams, the parents, all urged the challengers to do their best. Every child who participated was a “winner”. At the end of the event, IANH President Mr. Kumar thanked everyone for coming and for their hard work and commitment.
Winners of the 2009 Education Bee will receive trophies and certificates at the IANH Spring Festival scheduled for Saturday May 30th. Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul General NY will preside over the function.

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