Winning cousins, from left: third runner-up in the 11-13 age group, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School pupil Dwayne Fung-A-Fat; his cousin, 11-13 age group winner MAC pupil Xavier Aventurin Fitzpatrick; and his cousin, first place winner in the 8-10 age group, St. Dominic Primary School pupil Benae Dawkins Fitzpatrick.
PHILIPSBURG--Three cousins from the Fitzpatrick family won top spots in the nail-biting second annual Courtney Gibson Memorial Spelling Bee competition coordinated by the St. Maarten Guyanese Association and held at the WIFOL Building on Saturday evening.
Cousins Benae Dawkins Fitzpatrick and Xavier Aventurin Fitzpatrick both won the categories in which they competed, while their cousin Dwayne Fung-A-Fat came in third place in his category.
Winners and runners-up of the second annual Courtney Gibson Memorial Spelling Bee competition with judges and representatives of the St. Maarten Guyanese Association.
Benae, a St. Dominic Primary School pupil, won the 8-10-year-old age group category after a tough final round which saw judges running out of final-round words and having to use additional words, as all those in the final round were spelling their words correctly. After several rounds, the judges had to resort to a “sudden death” round where words specific to Guyana were given to spellers. At the end of this round, Benae Fitzpatrick emerged the winner. Second place went to Bhavya Sharma and third place to Pulkesh Vasnani, who were tough competitors and great spellers throughout the competition.
Xavier, a Methodist Agogic Center (MAC) pupil, won the 11-13 age group category, while Marie Genevieve De Weever School pupil Joshua Mickle won second place and Fung-A-Fat, a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School pupil, copped third place in this category.
All participants received certificates of participation. Winners and runners-up in the two categories received a medal and gift vouchers from sponsor Sports Gallery located on Back Street, while the two first place winners each received a trophy, medal and Sports Gallery gift vouchers.
Prior to the start of the competition, head of the Department of Culture Clara Reyes shared some positive words with participants, urging them to say that they are young, positive, the future and that they will not let anything stand in their way. “You guys rock,” she told participants, noting that amongst participants, she saw doctors, lawyers, engineers, reporters, persons in the arts and other professionals.
Chief Judge Olga Mussington-Service outlined the rules of the competition. The announcing judge was educator Lavonne Cort. Venius Mickle and Association Vice President Sabrina Khan assisted in handing out prizes. Also present from the St. Maarten Guyanese Association were President Malcolm Mickle, Public Relations Officer Sharon Layne, Treasurer Joshua Schwiers, Assistant Secretary Donna Wilson, Assistant Treasurer George Mars, Chairwoman of the Organising Committee Nicole Duke and board member Mark Daniels.
The Spelling Bee was held as part of the association’s celebration of Guyana’s 51st Republic Anniversary. The competition was named after the association’s first president and co-founder, the late Courtney Gibson, who served as Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Herald before his passing in 2013. Gibson was also Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle in his native Guyana, as well as Chief Editor at several other publications in the region. He was also an author of two books – a religious book and Zimbabwe: a nation in waiting. Gibson was amongst the first batch of students to complete a degree course in communication at University of Guyana (UG). He was a highly respected person of principle.
