PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Thirty-five nervous and eager participants from thirteen schools were ready for the start of the preliminary round of the 8th Annual Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee 2019 at the Belair Community Center on Sunday.
The Spelling Bee was opened by Spelling Bee Chairman/Master of Ceremonies Jon Hart. President Aernout Kraaijeveld thanked the sponsors, the Spelling Bee Committee and the young people taking part in the spelling Bee and wished them all good luck. President of the Rotaract Club of Sunrise Gabriel Flanders said he was happy to collaborate once again with The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle in organizing this Spelling Bee. He also said this was an opportunity for the students which encourages them to use words and the dictionary as reading is fundamental for their education. Prime minister Wycliff Smith said this Spelling Bee is a great activity for the students and thanked the organizers, the Prime minister also added that the hard work of the students had rewarded them with a placement in this Spelling Bee and wished all the participants success. All the participants were told that they were all already a winner by being there and ready to compete. The invocation was given by Ms. Yvette Hart and the St. Maarten Song was led by secretary Grace Linger.
An explanation of the rules was given to the participants, who were anxiously waiting for the start. For the preliminary round the participants had to write twenty given words. The words were read out, given in a sentence and read out again, they had 30 second to write the word on the sheet provided.
The judge’s panel was introduced, the moderator was Spelling Bee Chairman Jon Hart, the head judge Vice President Denise Antrobus, Judges Rotarian Davy Moree and Ms. Yvette Hart, Time keeper secretary Grace Linger and logistic tech Rotaractor Tisianna Hart.
The top ten finishers representing seven schools, five from St. Maarten and two from Anguilla are Ashmini Persaud from The Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School, Sherine Lalwani from the St. Dominic Primary School, Jemaiah Etrenne from the St. Joseph School, from the Mac Browlia F. Maillard Campus are Jeremiah Cantave, Bhumi Dayalani and Kushaan Sharma, Pierre Pompignan from the Seventh Day Adventist School, from the Alwyn Allison Primary Mikalia Richardson and Emily Gumbs and Janselah Bruno from the Valley Primary. These ten participants will head into the Semi-Final on Sunday October 27th at The Belair Community Center to vie for one of the five spots in the final round on Sunday November 3rd.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle and the Rotaract Club of St. Maarten Sunrise encourage and welcome persons to come out and support the participants of the 8th Annual Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee for the Semi-Final and Final rounds. The school with the best supporting team will win a prize.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets at Pineapple Pete in Simpson Bay on Tuesdays at 7:00pm. For more information, persons can send an e-mail torotarysxm.mi@gmail.com or visit the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle’s Facebook page.
