Fourteen of the island's top students are getting ready for this year's Gleaner Company's Children's Own-sponsored Spelling Bee Competition finals. They will gather at the Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, on February 8 for the spelldown. The event starts at 9:00 a.m. and members of the public are invited on February 8 only. Today our reporter, Daviot Kelly, introduces you to some of the students who will face the spellmaster.
THERE'S NOTHING you can tell Dr. Clive Lai about spelling in front of a huge crowd, because he's been there.
The 1968 All-Island Champion, representing St. Cecelia Prep of St. Andrew in that school's glory days, Dr. Lai conquered his opponents to bask in spelling glory. Some years later, his connection with spelling hasn't stopped, as he runs a workshop in the Mandeville area where he resides. What would prompt a medical doctor with a fine practice to spend his time reinforcing the art of spelling?
"I enjoy it. If more children were spelling instead of playing Nintendo and chatting on the phone, they would be better off," he says.
NO LONG SESSIONS
The workshop is based on the campus of Bishop Gibson High for Girls, which happens to be the school of current Manchester champion Lawre Johnson.
Students from Belair, Mandeville Primary and Junior High and Mt. St. Joseph Prep schools are all in his programme. At any given time, he has as many as 11 children. Sessions aren't long and tedious, and he tries to make it fun.
"There's a spelldown after each week. The winners get little stars, while at the end of the term, the student with the most stars gets a prize," he explained.
Witnessing one of his sessions, the students are well rehearsed in what it takes to be a spelling champion. Words such as 'desire', 'discipline' and 'determination' roll off their tongues easily.
Dr. Lai also teaches the students some of the common reasons spellers make mistakes. He also gives tips on how to remember tricky words. Take, for example, 'battalion'. Just remember that 'battle' has two 't's and take it from there.
Dr. Lai was initially spurred to open his workshop when he realised that Mt. St. Joseph, where his children attended, did not have a spelling bee programme. Since it was his idea, the principal urged him to do it. The programme branched from there. Apart from his personal love for spelling, his motivation is to keep Manchester's spelling standards up.
"We have to be more competitive. The students must at least know the (spelling bee) book. Once you know the book, then you have the foundation," he reasoned.
RETIRING SOON
When he's not moulding young spellers, he is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, though he hints that he's retiring soon. Dr. Lai has had two parish champions, including Andrew Little who placed second in the National Finals.
He implores the students to study one or two pages a day. But he stresses the need for someone to bolster things at home.
"The students must ask someone at home to take them up with the words. The ones they get wrong, make a note of them, and remember why they got them wrong," he says.
With these approaches, we might have some more mid-island national champions emerging.
