JANAE HUNTER
Two St. Albans men have created a new educational children’s show they hope will generate an interest in spelling.
Allan Pope and Isaac Brown of St. Albans recently shot promotional episodes for their new show, “Spell a Word,” aimed at elementary and middle school students. The show would feature students ages 8 to 12 competing to earn points and win prizes.
“The idea started with my granddaughter,” Pope said. “I asked her, ‘Do you really think you can spell?’ and she said ‘yes’ and she spelled a word for me.”
“Spell a Word” has a total of four rounds: a general word round, a category of words, a lightning round and a buzz round. At the end of all four rounds, the player with the most points wins and earns prizes such as scholarships, educational bonds and trips. For the promo episodes, Pope and Brown used students from the Queens area, but they plan to use students from all over the country if the show gets picked up.
“We think we have a good idea — this could help and motivate students all over,” Pope said.
Brown thinks that the idea could even turn into more than a TV show: “With social media so big, this could even be made in to an app one day, and teachers could integrate it into their classrooms,” he said.
The duo expresses that this show could eventually go international because children and language will always exist, and because without communication, it’s difficult for people to progress in the world. Pope said anyone can become a great mathematician or scientist, but not without spelling and communication.
The challenge is generating funding and exposure for the show. Pope and Brown estimate that getting the show up and running on their own could cost millions, but with help from sponsors, they hope to get the show on a network soon.
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