The 43^rd Annual Territorial Spelling Bee was held on March 16 at the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School Auditorium on St. Thomas. Twelve-year-old Makayla Todman, a 7^th grader at John H. Woodson Jr. High on St. Croix, won the competition for the second year in a row with the correct spelling of the word villatic, which closed out the twelfth and final round. Her opponents, Carmindy Pickering, a fifth grader at Pearl B. Larsen Elementary and Jacinda Dubois of St. Patrick’s Catholic School took first and second places, respectively.
 
The Territorial Spelling Bee is the longest-running academic competition in the Virgin Islands. This year, it was sponsored by The Virgin Islands Daily News, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and the Virgin Islands Department of Education. The Daily News has been a sponsor since 1985.
 
“This Bee is an opportunity to showcase the best and the brightest students in the territory,” said Education Commissioner Sharon Ann McCollum, Ph.D., who observed the competition from the audience with parents, friends and government officials. “These students worked very, very hard with their coaches and with the close support of their families to earn a place in this competition. This is their big day,” she added.
 
In the first phase of competition, elementary, middle and high school students competed among their peers to represent their school in the District Spelling Bee. Next, approximately 22 to 26 students from each district competed in that contest. Then, the top six students from each district competed in the Territorial Spelling Bee. Makayla will travel to Washington, D.C. to represent the Virgin Islands at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 22-27, 2016.
 
The funniest moment of the territorial competition came in the third round when Joshua Morgan, a student at Gladys Abraham Elementary on St. Thomas, was asked to spell the word antibiotic. With a brief hesitation, he spelled the word correctly and then in relief blurted, “I’m done!” The audience erupted in laughter.
 
The eleven rounds tested the spelling skills of all of the contestants. They were asked to spell words such as vernacular, bara, gestalt, insidious, and megalopolis, to name a few. Each contestant, when uncertain of a word’s spelling, could ask for its pronunciation, meaning, or origin in an effort to gain a better grasp of how the word is spelled.  Ultimately, Makayla proved to be the best speller among her competitors.
 
Attendees included Assistant Commissioner Chermaine Hobson-Johnson, St. Thomas-St. John District Superintendent Dionne Wells-Hedrington, and Deputy Superintendent Raquel Berry-Benjamin, along with other Education Department officials. Members of the Senate in attendance were Senators Justin Harrigan, Tregenza Roach and Marvin Blyden.
 
  
2016 43^rd Annual Territorial Spelling Bee Participants
 
PARTICIPANT                                SCHOOL                                                              COACH
Andrew Bonelli, Jr.                 Addelita Cancryn Jr. High                              Tamah Henley
Cehara Briscoe                        Good Hope Country Day                                Sara Dykstra
Anushka Chandirami            VI Montessori & Int'l Academy                   Melissa Bump
Khaien Donowa                      Arthur A. Richards Jr. High                             Eva Wilson
Jacinda Dubois                        St. Patrick’s Catholic                                          Sharosne Elcock
Breanna Elie                            Bertha Boschulte                                                    Merida Gumbs
Joshua Morgan                        Gladys Abraham Elementary                          Loretta Silcott
Rashawn Phillip                      Claude O. Markoe Elementary                       Laurel Royer
Carmindy Pickering                Pearl B. Larsen Elementary                            Veronica Sargeant
Viren Punjabi                              Antilles School                                                       Sonia Swan
V’Andre Rochester                 Joseph Sibilly Elementary                               Henrietta Warner
Makayla Todman                    John H. Woodson Jr. High                                 Carla Bastian