The Gladys Abraham Elementary School took home its second victory this year as second grader Nyeema Henderson correctly spelled “secede” to win the 2017 St. Thomas-St. John District Primary Spelling Bee held Thursday, April 6, in the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School auditorium.
“No matter what the results are of the Spelling Bee today, all of these students are winners, and we definitely look forward to seeing them participate in the intermediate spelling bee when they move onto the fourth grade,” said Elementary Programs Coordinator Kalamis Maduro.
Twenty in-school winners from public, private and parochial schools participated in the Primary Bee, which lasted for 11 rounds. The students held strong with the first elimination coming only after five rounds. Round 10 gave Joseph Sibilly School third grader Annalisa Fletcher and Henderson with a challenging matchup. Henderson was the winner.
All Spelling Bee participants received a trophy, spelling bee pencils and erasers, three books from Scholastic and a personalized Webster’s Dictionary. The top six finalists also took home a Bananagrams game, and the winner also received an iPad.
The top six finalists from the St. Thomas-St. John District in order of placement are Nyeema Henderson, Gladys Abraham School; Annalisa Fletcher, Joseph Sibilly School; Mirza Baig, Lockhart Elementary School; Adore Defoe, Joseph Gomez School; De’Aneysha Hill, Julius E. Sprauve School; and T’Marii Francis, Bethel Baptist Day School.