The Tribune

CHARLES Hamilton Jr, the Bahamas representative in the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, performed creditably in the early rounds in Washington, DC, as 285 hopefuls battled for places in the semi-finals of the prestigious event this week.

Hamilton, a 12-year-old eighth-grade student at St Anne’s School, was competing at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Centre but was not among the spellers who advanced. He spelt both of his onstage words correctly, ‘Umlaut’ in round two and ‘Wensleydale’ in round three, but in the vocabulary test he gave the wrong answer for the meaning of ‘Desuetude’ and when his performance in the first round written test was evaluated, it was not strong enough for him to be included among the 49 semi-finalists.

Oswald Brown, Press, Cultural Affairs and Information Manager at the Bahamian Embassy in Washington, praised Hamilton’s efforts and said he deserved “a national round of applause”. He said an indication of just how difficult it is to win the Scripps Bee was shown by the experience and quality of the co-champions, Vanya Shivashankar, making a fifth and final appearance, and Gokul Venkatachalam, who finished third last year.

“Clearly, this suggests that a different approach should be used in preparing Bahamian students not only for participation in the Bahamas National Spelling Bee, but also in getting our champion ready to compete in the Scripps Bee,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown introduced the Scripps National Spelling Bee to The Bahamas in 1998 and had suggested during the early years that schools in The Bahamas organise Spelling Clubs that hold competitions year-round. “Moreover, I think consideration should be given to selecting a National Coach, following the example of Jamaica, whose legendary National Spelling Coach Dr Glen Archer died last year,” Mr Brown said. “Dr Archer was successful in coaching Jody Anne Maxwell to the Scripps National Championship in 1998, and I think that this year was the first time in many years that Jamaica was not represented in the finals.”

Hamilton won his place in Washington after winning the Bahamas National Spelling Bee in March in the Crown Ballroom at Atlantis, Paradise Island. On the Scripps Spelling Bee website, his profile states: “Charles doesn’t bat an eye at 864 pages; in fact, his favourite book, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, is just that

long. When he isn’t reading, Charles also enjoys putting in time figuring out riddles and solving puzzles. His other hobbies include swimming and playing soccer, and he aspires to be as great as his favourite soccer player, David Beckham. In his free time, Charles loves listening to music from the likes of Freddie Mercury and playing both the guitar and piano.”

The long-established Scripps National Spelling Bee aims to “help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives”. Among the prizes the champion will receive this year are a $30,000 cash prize and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy, a $2,500 US savings bond and a complete reference library and $1,100 of reference works, including the Britannica Global Edition and 1768 Encyclopædia Britannica Replica Set Deluxe Edition.

‘Desuetude’ - a state of disuse or not being in practice