Roadtown, Tortola - Eleven of the sixteen primary schools which participated in the preliminaries have qualified to go on to the semi-finals in the 2009 Inter-School Spelling Bee contest scheduled for February 16.
Students of the Willard Wheatley Primary School topped the preliminaries with a perfect score of 18 points. The other semi-finalists are Joyce Samuel Primary School, Cedar International Primary Division, Ebenezer Thomas Primary School, Bregado Flax Educational Centre Primary Division, The Little Rainbow, Agapé Total Life Academy, Enis Adams Primary School, Althea Scatliffe Primary School, Leonora Delville Primary School and Francis Lettsome Primary School.
Acting Deputy Chief Education Officer Ms. Beverlie Braithwaite who declared the 2009 Spelling Bee competition open on behalf of the Minister of Education and Culture, Hon. Andrew Fahie who was out of the Territory said the “focus on spelling serves to increase consciousness of the need to raise the standards of spelling in English in schools.”
Providing a comparison between English and Mathematics, Ms. Brathwaite said “letters to English are what numbers are to Mathematics. They are the building blocks. Similarly, spelling is to writing what counting is to computing. Mastery of these skills helps to build self-confidence in students, hence we need to focus on these skills now when it can make a difference. Failure to do so will be too costly.”
The primary school preliminaries consisted of three rounds, with two students and one reserve representing each school. The semi-finals for both the primary and secondary categories will be broadcast live on radio station ZROD.
The Ministry and Department of Education and the Rotary Club of Road Town are jointly sponsoring the spelling bee. Additional sponsors include LIME, Vanterpool Enterprises Ltd., J.S. Archibald and Co., Colonial Insurance, Harneys, First Bank, CCT, Drake’s Traders, MWM Financial Services, DeCastro Marking Products Ltd., Skelton Group of Companies, D&B Trucking and Heavy Equipment Services, MB’s Ice and ZROD.
The Spelling Bee competition promotes the importance of spelling in all disciplines and helps students to increase their vocabulary, reading and communication skills.
Category Date Time Venue
Primary Semi-finals
Monday, February 16 7:00 p.m. Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall
Secondary Semi-finals
Wednesday, February 18 7:00 p.m. Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall
Primary Finals
Tuesday, March 3 7:00 p.m. Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall
Secondary Finals
Wednesday, March 4 7:00 p.m. Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall
British Virgin Islands News