Rudolph Speid (left), The Gleaner's group financial controller, hands over a cheque to Tremaine Dixon (right), Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) county scholarship recipient for Surrey, while Lukel Miller (second left) and Shari-Jo Miller look on during yesterday's Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee GSAT county scholarship luncheon, held at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston, offices. Lukel was the recipient for Cornwall and Shari-Jo was the recipient for Middlesex. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Reverend Glen Archer yesterday hailed the support of parents as the key to the success of the three recipients of The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) county scholarships.

The scholarships are valued at $30,000 each and the recipients are from Kingston, Mandeville and Trelawny.

Speaking at The Gleaner's fourth annual Children's Own Spelling Bee GSAT county scholarship luncheon, held at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston, offices, Archer stressed that the quality of parenting was necessary for the success of the recipients.

"I know that no one reaches their destination without the help of others, the level of discipline of the children made my job easy," he said.

Archer, a coach of spelling bee champions who trained Tremaine Dixon, recipient of the scholarship for the county of Surrey, commended parents for the attention to detail in monitoring the home and the ethical approach they use to motivate their children.

Stephen Miller, father of Shari-Jo (recipient for Middlesex who scored a GSAT average of 88 per cent), told The Gleaner that parents need to acknowledge the needs of children and work with the teachers and monitor schoolwork to assist them.

Balancing time

"Though we have always known that she is a capable student, we still did not take things for granted," he said. "We still recognise that she's a child and she's always going to want to do the child things, so we have to ensure balancing the time between studies, but study was a priority."

Shari-Jo, who aspires to become a botanist, will attend Bishop Gibson High School. She said she was happy the hard work paid off.

"I did a whole lot of studying and had to make a lot of sacrifices also. I had to give up the TV and the video games," she said, laughing as her parents looked on.

Lukel Miller, recipient for Cornwall from Albert Town Primary, will be going to Knox Community College. He said he developed self-esteem through the eloquence he developed from reading.

Schools across the country are currently training students to participate in the 2008 Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee parish finals competition, which will start in September. The competition has been regarded as pivotal to self-development, confidence and literacy.

"Children understand being in the Spelling Bee is an achievement in itself ... it's an experience that stays with you," Archer said.