Ashawney makes good on second chance
Published:Thursday | February 8, 2024 | 6:26 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Second time’s the charm for Ashawney Burrell, who came out victorious in the 64th staging of The Gleaner’s Children’s Own Spelling Bee National Competition on Wednesday.
The 13-year-old, who represents St Andrew, successfully spelt the word M-A-L-A F-I-D-E. This is his second time entering the competition.
Burrell lost the Spelling Bee Parish Finals in 2023 to Jonathan Bailey, who then placed second in the National Finals.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Burrell, who is a Campion College grade-eight student, explained that during the competition, he was presented with numerous opportunities to take the win.
However, he said some of the words caused him to second-guess himself and give incorrect spellings.
Nevertheless, Burrell stated that he remained extremely proud of his win despite the chances that he “threw away”.
“In terms of spelling itself, I’m glad that I didn’t really make much mistakes in terms of words that I knew... and for that I feel good about my performance and just knowing that this was my final time, [and] I was able to end with a bang,” he said.
Burrell went head-to-head in the end with Daniel Harrison, who represented St Catherine, in what was an overall slow-paced match that kept spectators on the edge of their seats to see who would come out on top.
Harrison, who gave Burrell a run for his money as the two went through three championship words, ended the competition after incorrectly spelling the word C-H-R-E-S-T-O-M-A-T-H-Y.
Placing third was Jahmawl Hall from St Ann. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to spell the word C-O-N-D-I-G-N.
The semi-finals consisted of seven spellers, all boys, a first in the competition’s history. The top girl in the competition was Kyria Hinds from St Mary.
Burrell acknowledged that Harrison was a “very competent speller”, which he would have witnessed first hand given that they are both coached by Barrington Wilson.
He told The Gleaner that he was never focused on the prize but was more focused on the words to be spelt.
“One thing I find out is when you really focus or think primarily on the prize and not about what you are going to do to get there, you might actually find yourself doing the wrong thing ... so I was just focusing on what I would do to make sure I could get my prize,” he added.
In his assessment of the competition, the winning coach stated that it was a battle between “the experienced and the young”, Burrell being the younger of the two and Harrison being the more experienced.
Wilson said Harrison was more exposed to words because he was more available for the study sessions and Burrell, because of his high-school work, was not always present.
He continued that he was particularly proud of Harrison, who started under his wings in August 2023, adding that he has seen “ways and means where he needs to improve” but has also witnessed his growth. He characterised him as “a hard worker”.
Wilson had six finalists in the competition, representating St Andrew, Kingston, St Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, and St Elizabeth.
He started coaching youngsters for the Spelling Bee in 2008 and had his first victory at the parish finals level in 2012 when Manchester won.
Each year, he utilises the strategies he learnt from the late Reverend Glen Archer, who led Jodi-Anne Maxwell to become Jamaica’s first winner of the United States Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1998.