Coming up victorious in the 26th round of Friday’s St. Thomas-St. John intermediate spelling bee, All Saints Cathedral School’s Diantha Matthews took first place with the word "gardenia."
All Saints spelling coach Jamie Truax, also Matthews’ English teacher, said the strategy going into the competition was to focus on learning harder words, including the foreign language, hyphenated and proper nouns. That training paid off a bit after the sixth round, once Matthews and second-place finisher Jalen Dorsett were asked to spell everything from accouterment to sansei.
Matthews and Dorsett were the only two left on stage for 20 rounds, and went back and forth until the end, when Matthews also correctly spelled "cleanser" and won the competition.
"When it was just the two of us on stage, that’s when I got nervous," Matthews said afterward. "I’ve never been in the finals of something before, but after we kept going over and over, I just wanted to finish up. I’m excited that I won, and I can’t wait now to get ready for the territorial bee."
Matthews’ parents said they have been practicing with their daughter as much as possible over the past few weeks but tried to keep a balance between studying and having fun. Matthews’ father added after the competition that he would like to keep the same routine going into the territorial competition, which will be held next month, so that the pressure to win is kept to a minimum.
"We practiced in the car a lot, when we were going to school or driving around. We practiced in the car right before her school bee and again this morning, so we’ll try to keep that up, and maybe every other night and sometimes on the weekends," he said. "Diantha, she’s very determined, she is excited to learn the words, so I know she will do well in any situation."
Winning spelling competitions and training for them is nothing new for the family – Denis Matthews added that the couple’s eldest daughter, Cancryn English teacher Teejah Daley, won her school and district bees in the early 1990s.
And "fate" was in the air Friday as the youngest Matthews stepped on stage, mom Delta Matthews added.
"When the two of them were up there going back and forth, I was on the edge of my seat," she said. "I was holding my breath, and then I heard the announcer say ‘gardenia.’ That is my favorite flower, perfume, scent. I have gardenias everywhere. I knew she would get it."
The top six spellers from Friday’s competition now move on to the territorial bee against St. Croix’s winners, allowing Matthews and Dorsett to compete next month alongside Manav Thadani from Antilles School, Reem Mohamad from Lockhart Elementary School, John Costana from Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School and Moravian School’s Karl Dinang.
Note: Ananta Pancham also contributed to this report
