Dowers towers to reading finals in Dominica

Vincentians can be assured that this country will be well represented at the inaugural Courts OECS Reading Competition.{{more}}

At last week’s local leg of the competition, nine-year-old Lindsay Dowers out read eight other pupils, earning the right to represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines next month in Dominica at the regional finals.

Not only did Dowers earn the right to carry the flag abroad; she, as well as her school, the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School, took home EC $2,000 each.

She also earned the opportunity to be a featured presenter on the St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVGBC) Evening News in the near future.

The nine-year-old grade five pupil won both rounds of the two-stage competition; which featured a prepared and an impromptu category.

The prepared text, an adaptation of the Greek mythical story of King Midas and the Golden Touch, was well handled by the nine students; so too were the two comprehension questions that were asked following the reading of the text.

The impromptu passage, an excerpt from the news article ‘SVG Launches New Tourism Website’ published in Searchlight on October 2nd 2009, proved more challenging to the youngsters, who exhibited difficulties in the recognition and pronunciation of some words, as well as being able to respond to the subsequent questions.

At the end of the two-hour long competition, it was young Dowers who gained the judges’ nod, much to the delight of her classmates, teachers and family members in the audience.

Coming in second was the Lodge Village Government School’s 5th grader Aaron Weekes, with Shane Cadogan, an eight-year-old grade four pupil of the Windsor Primary school placing third.

Weekes won EC $1000 for placing second, Cadogan $750 for his third place and fourth (Simeon Greene, Diamonds Government School) and fifth placed (Justin Thomas, Richland Park Seventh Day Adventist School) won $500 each.

The other pupils were Jeshanna Alexander of the Calliaqua Anglican School, Christina Clarke of the Sugar Mill Academy, Deondre Woodley of the Buccament Government School and Tamara Woodley of the Paradise Primary School of Bequia.

All participants also received reading material from co-sponsor Gaymes Book Centre, trophies courtesy Multigraphics Limited and savings accounts at the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Dowers, one of the three females in the Finals, will now go up against students from five other OECS territories on November 13th, in competition for the title of first ever OECS Reading Champion, as well as EC $5,000 and a laptop computer.