BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWELVE gifted students walked away with smiles and trophies after being recognized as winners in the Dr. William Connor Rosetta McKoy Spelling Bee at an awards ceremony held yesterday (Mar. 12).
The event, sponsored by Juicy (a product of the St. Kitts-Nevis Carib Brewery), brought together about 40 of the school’s most academically-inclined students who have consistently had excellent performances in the area of Language Arts. The inter-house competition was named after a former head teacher of the institution Rosetta McKoy, who is recorded the school’s history as a stalwart of education.
The Spelling Bee, particularly designed to promote improved phonetics and vocabulary skills, was held on February 25. The participants divided according to age and had three winning positions within each division. In the Under Seven Section, Ishaunte Adams of Red claimed the first place trophy while Jadell Prentice and Kiara Phillip followed in second and third positions respectively.
Green Pumas’ Zedan Henry outshone all the other students in the Under Nine Division group as he consistently displayed his spelling mastery throughout the competition. Trelicia Walters gave a keen challenge and won second place prize while Toshiorna Millington walked away with third place prize.
The Under 11 Group saw a close battle of the brains with Jason Jeffers of Red Panthers emerging victorious, edging out Jhordan Hewlett in the final word. Kejani Hazel held her own finishing third. In the final division, Under 13, Red Panthers was able to claim first place again when its representative Thryce Charles was announced winner. Kyla Morton and Amita Matthew had very good performances and were given second and third place prizes respectively.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Erwin Lawrence, the teacher who helped organise the Bee explained that he was particularly pleased with the high standard of the competition as students displayed distinction in spelling.
“The competition started in 2002, and the quality has definitely gotten better over the years. I was very satisfied with the Spelling Bee and the students performed well. It was an extremely important activity as it aimed to broaden the scope of words used by the students which would without doubt improve both their written and spoken expression. We do intend to see a general improvement in the work of the children and this would prepare them even more for Test of Standards.
“The event exposed the students to many words, new and unfamiliar, to give them a chance to enhance their phonetic skills and overall vocabulary. It prepares them for life as they are better able to use and spell words.”
Lawrence informed that a similar event is upcoming, this time focussing on Mathematics to assist children in overcoming challenges in that subject area.
