SVG wins Haliborange Rotaract 2010 Regional Spelling Bee

For the second consecutive year, St.Vincent and the Grenadines has emerged winner in the Haliborange Rotaract 2010 Regional Spelling Bee competition.{{more}}

This country was represented by Aranique Jackson, a Grade 5 student of the Kingstown Preparatory School, in the competition which took place in St. Lucia on December 4. Last year’s winner was Ajay Miller of the Kingstown Preparatory School, who clinched the title in Antigua.

This is the fourth year that Haliborange and Rotaract are staging the Regional Spelling Bee competition. Haliborange, the sponsor, is a health line of products from Seven Seas and is distributed locally by Coreas Hazells Inc.

On Tuesday, December 7, John-Paul Antoine, the pharmaceutial manager at Coreas Hazells Inc. with responsibility for the Seven Seas brand, visited the Kingstown Preparatory School to congratulate Aranique and present her with a prize.

For winning the local competition, Aranique received a laptop computer and an all-in-one printer along with six months free Internet compliments LIME. Her school received an all-in-one printer by virtue of her winning the local competition. For winning the regional competition, she received EC$5,000.

Antoine said the victorious Aranique competed against students from St.Lucia, St.Kitts, Grenada, Dominica and Antigua.

“I am hoping that next year we will have won the treble. They (students) have set a standard now where they have brought home the throphy for two consequetive years. It is imcumbent upon them to continue that trend and to build upon that, because as it were the other countries are going to come fighting next year to dethrone them,” said Antoine.

Aranique’s participation in the regional finals was as a result of her winning the local leg of the spelling bee competition. Forty two schools participated in the local preliminaries, and eight schools competed in the finals.

Aranique said her participation in the competition has helped to improve her spelling.

She said she enjoys playing the piano in her spare time and her dream is to become a pediatrician.

Aranique’s mother, Anika Stapleton, said she felt good about her daughter’s victory because she never “ceases to amaze me.” Aranique is also the daughter of Rano Jackson.

Stapleton, who accompanied her daughter to St.Lucia, said initially Aranique had some nervousness, “moreso on my part, but also on her.”

“I managed to settle her down, and from the time she started with the first word, it was just smooth sailing after,” said Stapleton.

The preliminary competition started in the islands on October 7, but as a result of the passage of Hurricane Tomas’ the final was postponed to Demcember. (HN)