Team of First Nations spellers will head to national competition

Team of First Nations spellers will head to national competition - For the first time ever, the Spelling Bee of Canada will have an all-First Nations team competing. Winners from the First Nations Provincial Spelling Bee, to be hosted by Chief Poundmaker School in April, will form a team to compete in Toronto in May. Local organizer Pauline Favel says that Spelling Bee of Canada has endorsed the FNPSB as a regional competition, which will allow all first place winners from the bee’s three categories to advance to the national spelling bee as Saskatchewan’s only representative. “This is a first ever for Native people,” said Favel. “Not just for Saskatchewan but all the provinces. We are taking a team from First Nation schools, all the winners are going to be First Nation students, and we’re taking them to Toronto to compete with everybody else.” The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority is the title sponsor for the FNPSB.