Michael Atwell, a seventh grader from Good Hope Country Day School, outlasted 14 competitors and spelled the word “torotoro”* correctly Tuesday to win the 46th annual St. Croix District Spelling Bee.
“I practiced really, really hard to win,” Atwell said. “I feel excited but I just want to win the next one. I’m going to start practicing for that one.”
“That one” is the Territorial Spelling Bee, which will be March 19 on St. Croix and feature the six best spellers from the St. Croix District and the St. Thomas-St. John District.
At Tuesday’s event, held at John H. Woodson Jr. High School, chief judge Maureen Moorehead read the spelling bee rules to the participants and the audience. The spellers were introduced and each speller was given a word in a practice round.
As the rounds continued the spellers were allowed to ask the spelling bee officials to repeat the word, ask for the origin, for the word in a sentence, the definition, the part of speech, an alternate pronunciation and for an alternate pronouncer. The spellers utilized those options many times throughout the bee.
The rounds began with commonly used words and gradually went on to more difficult words – quesadilla, postmortem, herpetology, gingivitis, terrapin, mantilla, trawl and many others.
Continuing through fifteen rounds, Atwell was left to spell the word torotoro. If he misspelled the word, the remaining speller, Jah’Quane Graham of Elena Christian Jr. High, would have a chance to spell a word and the competition would continue between the two. Atwell spelled it correctly and won the championship, with Graham taking second.
The remaining four of the top six were Jaden Gonzalez of Church of God of Holiness, third place; Kayin Blackwood of Ricardo Richards Elementary, fourth; Carmindy Pickering of John H. Woodson Jr. High, fifth; and Alani Arnold of St. Patrick’s School, sixth.
Atwell and his parents were happy about his win. When asked if he thought he would win, he humbly replied, “Yes.” He said he worked very hard to win this year. His English language arts teacher Amanda Beach agreed.
“He is passionate about learning,” Beach said. “He will ask many questions. He has an insatiable quest for learning.”
According to Beach, Atwell did not do well in previous years in the spelling bee. That fueled his motivation to win this year, she said. He was determined that this would be his year, Beach added.
Medals, tote bags and certificates of appreciation were given to all of the spellers. Trophies were given to the top six finalists.
Other students taking part in the St. Croix competition were:
Judah Hodge, Alexander Henderson Elementary School; Ya’Ismariel Gonsales, Alfredo Andrews Elementary; Na’Kia Armstrong, Arthur A. Richards Jr. High; Alexander Polydore, Claude O. Markoe Elementary; Ahlaya Challenger, Free Will Baptist; Jahnyah Greenidge, Juanita Gardine; Aseel Dawood, Lew Muckle Elementary; Jahleya George, Pearl B. Larsen; Widad Dawood, St. Croix Seventh Day Adventist.
Banco Popular, The Virgin Islands Daily News, United Way, One Love Gas Stations, Plaza East and WTJX supported the Spelling Bee.
*By the way, according to the Merriam-Webster Disctionary, the word “torotoro” means, “a kingfisher (Halcyon torotoro) of New Guinea having an orange beak.”
