\BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BLUE House has demonstrated excellence in both athletics and academics after claiming victory in the inaugural Sandy Point Primary School Inter-house Spelling Bee Competition.
The event, held Wednesday evening (Feb. 17), saw a hall full of house supporters, teachers, parents and members of the community cheering on the representatives of the respective houses. The competition was keenly contested by house representatives from grades five and six, some of the most brilliant minds in the school.
Blue House, who entered the competition with the highest points from pre-sports, was represented by Jenae Rouse and Sadonis Jarvis. Janecia Williams and Quacent Edwards were the bright Orange House spellers, while Red House placed Howard Hensley and Akeem Wilkins to do them proud. Green House was represented by Brenesha Steven and D’Vontrelle Proctor.
The competition was a neck-and-neck challenge as the words increased in difficulty through the progressing rounds. After the fifth and final round of individual questions, Blue House held the lead with 50 points, while Orange and Green trailed closely behind with 45 and 35 respectively.
The sixth round was for group responses and all teams got the maximum three points for that section. Thunderous applause resonated throughout the room when Blue House was named the winners with a total of 53 points.
The battle of the wits was not yet done, however, as Blue House’s Rouse and Jarvis, Orange’s Williams, Hensley of Red House and Steven of Green were all tied with 25 individual points.
A set of unseen words were used in a spell-off to determine from which house the individual best speller would come. It took only one round before Brenesha Steven of Green House proved that she was deserving of the trophy for the best speller.
Sports Director and organizer of the event Dureen Burt-Queeley told SKNVibes that she was very pleased with the quality of the competition and indicated that the success of this spelling bee has encouraged the committee to make it an annual event.
“I was very impressed with the performance of the children. They had a very short time to learn 44 words. All in all, it was organized in an effort to bring a greater balance between track and academics for the overall development of our students,” Burt-Queeley said.
The director added that she hopes this approach to athletics would produce athletes who are both disciplined and educated. She concluded that she expects the school’s athletes to do well in the upcoming inter-house and zonal meets.
The school is still in need of sponsors for the spelling bee competition. Interested individuals are asked to contact the principal at (869) 465 6320.
