San Pedro student new spelling champ
Can you spell “ricochet”? Well, one young lady from San Pedro showed she can spell it, plus a whole lot of other words and walked away this year’s Coca-Cola Spelling Bee champ. And if you weren’t able to be at the City Center this morning for the big event, don’t worry Channel Five will be airing the finals tonight at 8:30. But in the meantime, here are some highlights.
It was the Belize District that came out on top in the finals of the Coca Cola 1999 National Spelling Bee. The morning began with twelve students representing the Belize, Cayo, Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek and Toledo Districts. One by one the candidates were eliminated until there were only three left in round seven.
It did not take long for twelve year old Candice Chavannes of St. Peter Elementary School in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye to capture the title of the 1999 Spelling Bee National Champion.
Jamie Lee Rocke of Grace Primary School and Lorena Melgar of Mount Carmel School in the Cayo District fought hard to capture second place. After many tries and misses, twelve year old Rocke finally scored big with the word “diphthong.”
Rocke said she was overjoyed when she finally got a word correct and spoke about how she had almost given up hope of coming in second.
Jamie Lee Rocke, 2nd Place Winner
“At first I said I am going to spell this correct but then after a while I then got discourage and I said, ah man.”
However, Rocke would be brought back on stage to defend her position when a teacher of Mount Carmel Primary School lodged a protest saying the word their student was given was not properly pronounced causing Melgar to misspell. Judge Alice Castillo explained what took place.
Alice Castillo, Judge
“What happened is that our Quiz Mistress was trying to syllabicate as much as possible to help the children with these new words. We were aware of that. The word “proboscis” has a silent “c” in it. By saying, “pro-bos-kis” she tried to give her the clue. We understand that by saying “kis,” the child kept saying “k” and so there is a legitimate protest.
And so what we will do is have her spell one more word. We will have her pick a word since Jamie has already spelt hers correct and if she spells that one right then we will have to have another round with Jamie and Lorena.”
In the end Rocke held onto second place. But the controversial battle for second could not overshadow the happiness felt by the overall champ Candice Chavannes. Following the contest
Chavannes received a congratulatory hug from her dad. She says she never doubted she would win.
Candice Chavannes, 1999 Coca Cola Spelling Bee Champion
“Well I was feeling like I was going to win because I saw my dad and all the people out here cheering for me. It made me feel good.
Well I did a lot of reading; I studied my words and I also had some friends take me up with the words.”
According to Nicholas Pollard Jr., Sales Manager of Bowen and Bowen Limited, which has sponsored the quiz for five years, this year’s Spelling Bee was a huge success.
Nicholas Pollard Jr., Sales Manager, Bowen & Bowen Limited
“I think it was a lot of entertainment, fun and a great partnership between Bowen & Bowen limited, our kids countrywide and the Ministry of Education. We did a lot of additions this year: the A-Z mascot, the D-Revelation Band and their jingle. So we are very happy and we are hoping that next year will be even better.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Jacqueline Woods.
The first and second place winners each won a computer with all accessories. All twelve finalists received backpacks for their participation.
