Sign language used for spelling bee

For months we have been hearing about the Coca-Cola spelling bee, and last week that competition ended. But this week, another spelling bee was held, sponsored by Crystal Water. News Five was at Belize Elementary School auditorium for the hands-on event.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Hearing impaired children have made great strides in learning how to communicate with each other. Sign language has been helping these young boys and girls get an education and feel more confident. For the past five years, these primary school students have also been using their special skill to compete for the title of best speller in the National Finger Spelling Bee Competition sponsored by Crystal Water.

Erlett Thomas, Itinerant Resource Teacher, Special Ed. Unit
“And I think it is important for the public to know that even though our children are hearing impaired or deaf, they can spell as well as other children.”

“It builds their vocabulary, it helps them so that when they become adults or go out there in society, if they are talking to you and you don’t understand them, then they can write it down on paper and it will be spelt correctly. And it helps them in their school work, they can learn to read, they can identify words, it?s same as a normal child.”

The quiz includes a junior and senior competition and has the participation of students from all over the country. The children all did well, but by time it was all over Olive Martinez from St. Peter’s Anglican School in Orange Walk and Vaughan Enriquez from Stella Maris Academy for the Deaf in Belize City walked off with the championship. According to Itinerant Resource Teacher for the Deaf, Erlett Thomas, while the competition has been well supported by the students and teachers, they would like to see more participation from the public.

Erlett Thomas
“The public on a whole, they support us but they don’t actually come to the competition which we would like them to come so that they can see how our children spell and how they can participate in the spelling bee as well.”

The finger spelling bee was held as part of activities commemorating Disabilities Week.

Disabilities Week continues on Friday with a parade through Belize City. It ends on Saturday with a Family Fun Day at the Stella Maris School compound on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City. The week is being celebrated under the theme “It’s the person first then the disability.”