All Saint’s student is top district speller
It’s that time of year again… so let’s cut to the chase at Holy Redeemer Parish Hall.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Eighteen primary school students from the Belize District competed against each other for a chance to go to the national coca cola spelling bee. And in the end it came down to a reserve list fight between Ladyville Our Lady of the Way and Belize City’s All Saints and Holy Redeemer schools.
Keyren Dzib, Our Lady of the Way
“Gawky, G-A-U-K-E-Y, gawky.”
Announcer
“No.”
Keyren Dzib
“Gawky, G-O-C-K-E-Y, gawky.”
Announcer
“No.”
Keyren Dzib
“Gawky, G-A-U-C-K-E-Y, gawky.”
Announcer
“No.”
Keyren Dzib
“Gawky, G-A-U-C-K-Y, gawky.”
Announcer
“No.”
Keyren Dzib
“Gawky, G-A-U-C-K-E-E, gawky.”
Announcer
“No.”
Keyren Dzib
“Gawky, G-A-U…”
(Time expires)
Announcer
“Gawky, G-A-W-K-Y.”
Austin Flores, Holy Redeemer Primary
“Rueful, RUTHFUL, rueful. Rueful, R-O-O-F-L-E, rueful.”
Announcer
“No.”
Austin Flores
“Rueful, R-U-F-L-E, rueful.”
Announcer
“no.”
Austin Flores
“rueful, R-O-O-F-U-L-, rueful.”
Announcer
“No.”
Austin Flores
“Rueful, R-U-F-U-L, rueful.”
Announcer
“No.”
Austin Flores
“Rueful, R-U-F-F-U-L, rueful.”
(Time expires)
Ravesh Sukhnandan, Winner, Belize District Finals
“Maestro, MAESTRO, maestro.”
Announcer
“Correct.”
A very confident Ravesh Sukhnandan of All Saints says winning today’s district finals was easy because he had all the support structures in place.
Ravesh Sukhnandan, Winner, Belize District Finals
“My mother helped me with a lot of words, she helped me to spell words and she helped me to break up words into syllables, so that was very nice. My classmates really helped me a lot and they put a lot of effort into trying to win this. Also, my teachers did and my father, so I would give thanks to all of them too.”
While the pressure was on for the competitors on stage to get their words right, between rounds entertainment for the standing room only crowd was provided by the competition’s mascot, A-Zee.
While the competition is fierce among the finalists, Bowen and Bowen’s marketing manager, Nicholas Pollard Junior, the main sponsor of the competition, suggests that it may be time for some fine-tuning.
Nicholas Pollard Jr., Bowen & Bowen Marketing Manager
“One think I’ll say though is that we are still seeing a high number of contestants falling out at the end of round two. Today I was doing my numbers and I think it was seven out of eighteenth dropped out from the second round. I think that’s a little high. Given that they had the word list for over six weeks to study those words, not so many students should have gone down at the end of round two.”
And while he aced the word “maestro” to take the 2004 Belize district spelling title, Sukhnandan says how he did it is best left unsaid, but he did share his strategy for winning.
Ravesh Sukhnandan
“I don’t really want to go back to that, because it might give me some bad luck, so I would just try to leave it as that.”
Patrick Jones
“Did you know these words, do you do a lot of reading?”
Ravesh Sukhnandan
“Yes I do a lot of reading, I love to read. And that really helped me a lot, because you know some of those words I might not have known if I had not read, so that was very good.”
And while he’s wrapped up the local title a month ahead of the national completion, Sukhnandan says now is not the time to relax.
Ravesh Sukhnandan
“Well I would hope so, I would think so because I tried a lot for this, so I would do a lot more studying for that.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Second place was won by Keyren Dzib of Ladyville’s Our Lady of the Way while Holy Redeemer’s Austin Flores took third. The top three winners in the district finals each receive a duffle bag, coke cap and a small FM radio. The national spelling bee will be held on May twenty-first.
