BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER two rounds in a battle of the islands to see who could spell the most words correctly, Rheyana Davis of St. Kitts emerged on top, capturing the title of Haliborange Spelling Bee Champion.
The 10-year-old defeated contestants from seven other islands in a competition that was held on Saturday (Nov. 12) at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium, spelling 18 out of her 20 words correctly.
The competition featured nine and ten year olds representing Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Martin, and St. Kitts and Nevis, participating in a two round battle, spelling a total of 20 words each.
Each word carried five points, and emanated from a chain of categories – sports and leisure; in the kitchen; the universe and religion; body and mind; nature and diseases; words commonly misspelled; occupational; sciences, music and the environment; school related; and government and political action.
Judges for the competition were Dr. Ismay Taylor, Garth Wilkin, Cicely Jacobs, and Margaret Hodge.
The nine and ten year olds exuded confidence and knowledge of the words though some had difficulty with them. Of the 160 words given, a total of 123 were correctly spelt, illustrating a strong sense of literacy among the children.
Some of the words giving trouble were diocese, conceit, courteous, annulment, archaeology, illiteracy, cellist, synchronize and incite.
Throughout the competition, Rheyana Davis of St. Kitts, Keondre Herbert of Antigua and Barbuda, and Dandre Toney of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were in tight competition as they were spot on for most of their words and spelt with confidence.
At the end of the second round, Davis and Herbert peaked at a tie, sending the competition into a tie breaker. Each student was given five words and the person spelling the most correctly, was to be announced the winner.
The words were given and each was accurately spelt causing the competition to move into a one on one knockoff.
This was when Davis knocked out Herbert one word into that segment and emerged the champion, winning herself quite a few Seven Seas products and a $5 000 cheque.
Herbert, for coming in second won several Seven Seas products as well, along with $3 000 while Toney, who followed in third place received Seven Seas products as well as $2 000.
In an effort to improve the literacy skills in Primary Schools across the Region, the Rotary Club of Liamuiga, in collaboration with Haliborange/Seven Seas, represented in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis by Ram’s Trading Limited, hosted the Haliborange RCL Regional Spelling Bee Competition.
The competition is in its fourth year, with St. Kitts being represented for the second time. Each island had a local competition with the winner being the one who represented their respective island in the regional competition.
