Kesean hits right note to retain Trelawny title

Falmouth, Trelawny:

Name: Kesean Ottey

Age: 11

School: Hague Primary

Coach: Karen Pottinger

Winning word: A-C-C-I-A-C-C-A-T-U-R-A

Meaning: A grace note performed as quickly as possible before an essential note of a melody.

Top 5

1. Kesean Ottey, Hague Primary

2. Danella Parsons, Hague Primary

3. Omar Dehaney, Granville Primary

4. Akeelia Dehaney, Granville Primary

5. Najee Walcott, Albert Town Primary

Kesean on winning: “I feel very happy about winning.”

This is Kesean’s third time entering the competition and his third consecutive win. When asked about preparing for the parish finals, he said: “I started preparing over the summer and I practise a lot. I tried to study more of the meanings, learn the parts of speech so I can understand what kind of word it is.”

Kesean to the other parish finalists: “They’re going to have tough competition because I’m going to be studying harder.”

The 11-year-old says that he enjoys playing video games, Call of Duty being his favourite. He is part of his school’s track team and says the 100m dash is his pet event. He is also excited about a burgeoning spelling club, which he heads at his school.

Karen Pottinger (Coach): “I’m elated! I’m overwhelmed with joy to know that he was able to stand his ground and was able to win for the third year in a row.”

At the end, it was a battle between Kesean and champion girl Danella Parsons, his spellmate from Hague Primary.

When the two were left standing, Ottey misspelt A-B-A-T-T-O-I-R, which was then passed to Parsons, who also also got it wrong, resulting in a reset. After a few more words, Parsons faltered and Ottey retained his title as The Gleaner’s Children’s Own Spelling Bee parish champion for Trelawny.

Karen Pottinger on the champion girl: “Wow! She is so dedicated. She’s hard working. During lunch time, she’d come to practise, also after school. She is so dedicated to this programme, and I’m really overjoyed.”