By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 19, 2019 — The stage is now set for what promises to be an exciting and highly competitive 23rd annual Bahamas National Spelling Bee Championship (BNSB) finals at in the Crown Ballroom of Atlantis on Paradise Island on Sunday, March 10, 2019.
Every year since the Scripps National Spelling Bee was introduced to The Bahamas in 1998 by Oswald T. Brown when he was Editor of the Nassau Guardian, with strong support from the then Minister of State for Education Dion Foulkes, the Ministry of Education has organized competitions at all levels of its school system — starting with in-school competitions and subsequently regional competitions — to select finalists to compete in BNSB Championships.
This year, 24 of the nation’s top young spellers won the right to compete in the finals with the ultimate goal of representing The Bahamas in the 93rd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, Fort Washington, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. from May 26 to May 31, 2019.
According to Ms. Shacantila Williams of the Ministry of Education’s Student Services Section, the following finalists will battle it out for the BNSB championship:
ABACO & CAYS — Olivia John (Forest Heights Academy)
ASSOCIATE SCHOOLS — Lance Farquharson (Genesis Academy) and Carter Lowe (Windsor Preparatory School)
B.A.I.S.S. — Arjun Shetty 1st Place (Queens College), Craig Simmons 2nd Place (St. Augustine’s College) and Roy Seligman 3rd Place (Lyford Cay International School).
CAT ISLAND, RUM CAY & SAN SALVADOR — Shamiah Eugene (Old Bight Primary).
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS — Rafaella Thompson 1st Place (Xavier’s Lower School) and Azariah Smith 2nd Place (Xavier’s Lower School).
CENTRAL/NORTH ELEUTHERA — Amari Pinder (Central Eleuthera High)
EAST GRAND BAHAMA & GRAND CAY — Azaria Louis )Maurice Moore Primary).
EASTERN NEW PROVIDENCE PRIMARY — Demeek Moxey 1st Place (Thelma Gibson Primary), Johnell Marshall 2nd Place (Thelma Gibson Primary).
EXUMA & CAYS — Garth Thompson Jr. (Moss Town Primary)
LONG ISLAND — Riché Darville (Mangrove Bush Primary)
MICAL – Christopher McKinney (Acklins Central High)
NORTH & CENTRAL ANDROS — Maria Adams (Huntley Christie High School)
NORTHERN NEW PROVIDENCE SECONDARY — Florenta Augustin (T. A. Thompson Jr. High)
SOUTH ANDROS & MANGROVE CAY — Kevano Seymour (South Andros High)
SOUTH ELEUTHERA — Nathalia Saunders (Preston H. Albury High)
SOUTHERN NEW PROVIDENCE SECONDARY — Irene Dames (S.C. McPherson Jr. High)
WEST GRAND BAHAMA & BIMINI — Jayden Pinder (Hugh W. Campbell Primary)
WESTERN NEW PROVIDENCE PRIMARY — Chanel Dalmont 1st Place (Sybil Strachan Primary) and Kevin Williams 2nd Place (Yellow Elder Primary).
This year, instead of one champion, The Bahamas can enter two participants in the Scripps Bee as a result of a new invitational program called RSVBee introduced last year.
Most of jurisdictions that traditionally send one contestants to the Scripps National Spelling Bee were quick to respond to the new RSVBee offer last year, and as a result the number of participants in the 2018 Spelling Bee increased substantially from the 291 spellers who participated in 2017 to 519 contestants in the 2018 Scripps Bee. Out of the 519 spellers, 278 of them were from the traditional sponsorship programs and 241 competed through RSVBee, including the overall winner, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas.
Jamaica, for example, quickly took advantage of the “second contestant” offer and had two entrants in the 2018 Scripps Bee. This certainly is something for officials of the BNSB to keep in mind for the upcoming 2019 Bahamas National Spelling Bee and make whatever arrangements are necessary to obtain sponsorship for the second Bahamas contestant.
The Nassau Guardian, of course, is still the principal sponsor along with the Ministry of Education, but it should not be that difficult to find an altruistic individual or corporate sponsor to cover the cost of sending a second Bahamas contestant to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In the early years of the BNSB, the Grand Bahama District has been a force to be reckoned with, capturing the national title a staggering seven times: Deshae Morley, Grand Bahama Catholic High (1999-2000); Britanny Wilkinson, Freeport Anglican High (2000-2001); Denice Deveaux, Grand Bahama Catholic High (2001-2002); Joeanne Salise, St. Georges High (2003-2004); Joeanne Salise, St. Georges High (2004-2005); Anjanet Loon, Grand Bahama Catholic High (2006-2007); Anjanet Loon, Grand Bahama Catholic High (2007-2008).
This year, the Grand Bahama District is represented by Azaria Louis, a nine-year-old 5th-grade student at Maurice E. Moore Primary School, and Jayden Pinder, a 10-year-old 5th-grade student at Hugh Campbell Primary.
Last year’s Bahamas spelling champion, Johnathan Randall, a 12-year-old Central Eleuthera High School student, correctly spelt both of his on-stage words, but did not do well enough in the written test to be among 50 finalists.
Participants in the Scripps National Bee include spelling champions from across the United States as well as spelling champions from The Bahamas, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Ghana, Japan, Jamaica, Mexico, and New Zealand. The competition is also open to spelling champions from U.S. territories such as Guam, American Samoa, the Navajo Nation, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with overseas military bases in Germany and South Korea.
