PHILIPSBURG:--- Khushal Punjabi emerged as the winner of the fourth annual Scotiabank Bright Future & Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee finals last Sunday at the Belair Community Center.
Khushal from the MAC J.A.G. Campus spelt all twenty words that were given to him correctly. his winning school got a desktop computer and printer.
The other four contestants had only one mistake each, and had to go through the process of elimination by spelling additional bonus words to determine their places. Frans Luis Guinto from the Morris Vanterpool Primary in Anguilla won the second place, and Amit Bijlani, also from MAC J.A.G. won third place.
From the MAC B.F.M. Campus, both Athalia Reyes and Tueling Ramkellowan, 4th and 5th place respectively, received consolation prizes.
Several contestants from the first round were in attendance, and received their special gifts for their courage in participating in this challenging contest. The most supported school at the event was the MAC B.F.M. Campus, which won an all-in-one printer. Other winners in the audience received gasoline vouchers from SOL, by spelling some of the challenging words correctly.
For winning the Spelling Bee, Khushal received a MacBook Pro laptop computer, while 2nd place Frans Luis received an iPad. 3rd place winner Amit received an iPod Touch. All top three winners received their respective trophies.
Besides the Spelling Bee, which had some emotional moments on stage, the audience was also treated to the entertaining talents of the Dow Steel Orchestra during the breaks.
Next year, the organizers Rotary Club of Sint Maarten-Mid Isle and Rotaract Club of Sint Maarten Sunrise are already planning to start the competition after the school break in October. Scotiabank already committed to be the main sponsor of the local event for five years and, together with the Rotary and Rotaract clubs, will be seriously looking into organizing a regional in the near future, which will include various countries in the Caribbean.
