Moorabbin Students Spellbound By Worthy Cause

To many people spelling sends shivers up the spine but not to the Grade 6 students of Moorabbin Primary School. They were willing participants for the launch of the Operation Cleft Spellathon on Thursday 23 July.

With the assistance from Rotary Club of Moorleigh Moorabbin, the school took up the literacy challenge to conduct the Spellathon that would raise money for this worthy cause.
Depending on their grade level, students were given cards with words that they will learn how to spell over the coming two weeks. For every word they spell correctly, family and friends will donate money.

Operation Cleft is an international Rotary program focused on helping young people with cleft lips and palates in Bangladesh. Since its inception in 2005, it has funded over 4,000 cleft operations. The cleft palates are the two plates of the skull that form the roof of the mouth and in some cases these are not joined. The palate clefts can occur as complete or incomplete and result in a hole in the roof of the mouth that connects directly to the nasal cavity. This condition causes difficulty in speaking, eating and possible deafness.

In Australia, such a deformity would be repaired at or shortly after birth but in Bangladesh, the condition is not considered life threatening and is not covered under their public health system.
“This is an excellent opportunity for our whole school to get involved with a worthy cause. Through our community partnership with Rotary, our students will assist the Bangladesh children have a better chance of leading a happy, healthy and productive life,” said Mark Berry, School Principal.

The Rotary Club of Moorleigh Moorabbin conducts fundraising Spellathons for any primary school in the local area and is now looking for schools interested to participate.
For more information on Operation Cleft or how your school can participate in a Spellathon Program contact Yvonne Beadle at moorleighmoorabbin@yahoo.com.au or call 0419 322 084.