It was neck and neck for round after round, as three tough word mavens duked it out in the 40th St. Croix District Spelling Bee.
When it finally ended after 21 rounds, Aaron Harris,11 and a seventh grade student at St. Patrick’s School, was the first-place winner. When he heard the judge say he had spelled “discrete” correctly his eyes grew big, he jumped with glee, waved his arms, and ran across the stage. Harris took first place for St. Croix last year too.
Yad Bass, a 12-year-old from John H. Woodson Junior High School, took second place. Bass represented the territory last year in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
The third place winner was 11-year-old, N’buri Alexander, a student at Church of God Holiness Academy.
The first five rounds and eliminations went by in a half-hour as four students got words wrong in the first round. After that it was a marathon.
Harris would spell a word ticking off the letters on his fingers or spell it out in the palm of his hand. He spelled so fast that officials requested that he slow down. He breathed a sigh of relief at one point and said “OK” under his breath as he walked back to his seat.
He said he was nervous at the beginning of the bee, then he calmed down – but when they got to round six and it was just the three guys left he got nervous again.
“I was very nervous knowing the other two left were good spellers,” Harris said. He said his studying paid off. “I studied a lot at school, during lunch, after school, and on weekends. I feel really good about winning again. I’m really happy to represent St. Croix.” He was coached by Lydia Davis and his father.
Percy Harris said he was very proud of Aaron for winning the district bee two years in a row. He has taken part in the bee three years.
“I think what Aaron has done is phenomenal,” the proud father said. “I felt apprehensive until his last word. I just knew he knew how to spell it. He put in a lot of time studying after school and weekends.” Perhaps not surprisingly, Percy Harrs said his son loves to read.
There were 23 students from public and private schools across St. Croix, ages eight through 14 that took part in the bee. Six students will represent St. Croix in the territory wide bee March 8 on St. Croix.
Those students also going to the territorial bee are fourth place winner, Indeyah Todman, from Lew Muckle Elementary School; fifth place winner, Tyanna Johnson from AZ Academy; and sixth place winner, Amina Wallace, from Elena Christian Junior High School.
Harris won an iPad mini donated by the St. Croix Lion’s Club and Bass won a WikiReader.
Hugh Sanchez, president of the Lions, said the Lions are pleased to be able to make the donation. “We want to help with anything that has to do with children and education,” Sanchez said.
Sponsors for the district spelling bee include V.I. Department of Education, V. I. Daily News, Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt, Scholastic, Inc., Discovery Education; Frederiksted Twin City Lions Club, St. Croix Lions Club, St. Croix Central High FBLA, Lion Brian Leung, Lion Susanna Simmonds, Patricia Jerimah-Pittman, Jan Michelle, Larsen Studio, and Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort and Spa.
