UP AGAINST 20 exceptional language students from top schools across the country, King’s Ely’s Georgia Baynes won second place at a national competition to represent the UK on the South American expedition, Ruta Quetzal 2013.
Run by the Spanish Embassy and Spanish Bank BBVA, Ruta Quetzal is a prestigious expedition programme where children from different European countries spend a month in South America taking part in sport activities and helping out native villages in Panama, while attending a Spanish course, all free of charge.
Georgia made it to the final stage of the competition at the Instituto Cervantes in London last Friday (7) where she completed a range of linguistic, cultural and talent tests, including an oral exam in front of an audience of around fifty people. After impressing the judges with an exceptionally high standard of Spanish, Georgia then made it to the shortlist for the final ten, narrowly missing out on the top prize by finishing in second place overall.
Spanish teacher Esmeralda Salgado commented: “For Georgia to have come second in the national finals for Ruta Quetzal 2013 is just remarkable; even making it to
the national final was an amazing achievement in itself. The level of Spanish was extremely high and she was so close to winning the overall competition.”
Georgia, who won a holiday to Spain for her achievement, said: “The competition was incredibly nerve-racking and exhausting; they made me speak in Spanish for the duration of the day, even in the lunch break. Although I narrowly missed out on attending the expedition, I am really pleased to have done so well and would like to thank everyone at King’s Ely for giving me this opportunity.”