11 High School students qualify for spelling bee semi-finals

Roadtown, Tortola - Eleven of fifteen secondary school students have qualified to go on to the semi-finals in the 2009 Inter-School Spelling Bee contest scheduled for February 18.

Students Adel Pereira, Raynecia Simmons and Deomatie Shilchand of Bregado Flax Educational Centre Secondary Division (BFEC), Aribella Parsons of Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS), and Maya Harrigan of St. Georges Secondary School topped the preliminaries with a score of 15 points. The other semi-finalists are Jonathan Durante (St. George’s Secondary); Akeema Stanley and Teshera Lake (ESHS); Rebecca Callwood (Jost Van Dyke); Chloe Ruffell-Smith and Amanda Putley (Cedar International School).   

The secondary school preliminaries consisted of six rounds.  The semi-finals for both the primary and secondary categories will be broadcast live on ZROD 103.7 FM.

The Ministry and Department of Education and the Rotary Club of Road Town are jointly sponsoring the spelling bee.  Mrs. Stephanie Benn, President of the Rotary Cub, is encouraging more parents, students and community personnel to attend the function in support of the students.

The Spelling Bee competition promotes the importance of spelling in all disciplines and helps students to increase their vocabulary, reading and communication skills.