Pointing the way to success, Rev Glen Archer takes charge of his latest champion, Sade Dunbar, as they prepare for the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. The pair, along with Gleaner Corporate Affairs and Marketing Manager Karin Cooper, and chaperone Primrose Swaby, will leave for Washington, DC, on Saturday. - Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer

The dictionaries she studies are nearly bigger than she is. If you're perusing anything this thick, it should have been for a doctorate.

This is the life of Sade Dunbar at the moment. The Gleaner's Children's Own All-Island Spelling Bee Champion for 2008 readies herself for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, United States.

The competition is on May 29 and 30, so there's no time for anything new; it's revision time now. Methods include eight written spelling tests a day with 25 words for each test. If a workshop lasts for three days that's 600 words over a three-day period! Despite the preparation, she has a few reservations.

"There is the schwa (an unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound) because of the American pronunciation of the words. But my biggest concern is that I'll get a word that I don't know," she says. But the master tactician that he is, Rev Glen Archer has her prepared for that too.

Designed linkage

"We're working on how to master etymologies (origins) of words," he said. According to Rev Archer, the Scripps spell masters give words derived from previous competitions. "I design a linkage system where we network words. So, if she's having a problem with a schwa word, we try to find several other words like it and put them in a group." He describes Sade as a strong willed and an intelligent child, two traits, if channelled properly, will help her succeed.

Sade wakes at 5:30 a.m. and it's off to Immaculate Conception High. After her daily studies there, it's over to Ardenne High where Rev Archer conducts his sessions. Anywhere between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. , it's off to home in Spanish Town, St Catherine. Despite the work, she recognises the positives the 'Bee' has provided. "I do better at English," she laughs, before adding, "It (the competition) helps you a lot academically, and it teaches you a lot about time management."

Part of her preparation is psychological; remembering how she got to this point. "The crucial question is where do I see myself the day after the competition? Do I want to look back with regret or with happiness?" asks Rev Archer. Sade is realistic about the experience to come. "Everyone will be nervous," she says, "but I pray a lot."

And what is she looking forward to most when it is all over? "Summer!" she says laughing before heading back to the dictionaries.