Five-year-old Kaleo Thomas crowned spelling champ
Published:Friday | April 24, 2026 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Five-year-old Mount Alvernia Preparatory and Kindergarten student Kaleo Thomas emerged the toast of Thursday Kiwanis Club of Providence Montego Bay’s 10th annual Kiddie Bee Spelling Competition, copping the much-coveted first-place prize.
Thomas, who exuded much confidence on his way to topping the field ahead of the other 20 contestants, who had joined him at the Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay, walked away with the competition’s main prize, the Henderson Trophy, along with a $10,000 gift voucher for a JMMB account and a tablet after correctly spelling the word ‘ASSIST’.
Ayani Lawson took second place behind Thomas, and Teo-Vaughne Rankine took the third place slot.
“I feel happy about being here. It was not hard. It was easy, and I had fun being here with the other children,” Kal said, reacting to his success.
His teacher, Camille Jameson-Peart, was equally ecstatic about his success, noting that the hard work that went into his preparation had paid off.
“I feel elated, and I’m excited because we worked hard for this, and we got it,” she said. “We started our preparation by handing out the spelling book to the parents, and the parents started practising with the children, and then at school, on a daily basis. We went through the words over and over.”
The Kiddie Bee Competition was created in 2015 through Young Children Priority One, the children’s group within the Kiwanis Club of Providence Montego Bay that caters to children ages three to five. The 10th staging was held this year due to a previous break because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joy Ford, the Kiwanis Club’s Kiddie Bee coordinator, said that the club had considered calling off this year’s staging of the competition due to schools’ ongoing recovery from Hurricane Melissa’s destructive impact on October 28 last year, but they were persuaded to hold the event.
“We have had upwards of 30 participants in the competition, but this year, we are down to 20 schools because of Hurricane Melissa, and some schools are still not back up to par. We were even thinking of cancelling, but when we spoke to the teachers, they said, ‘No, it gives the children something to look forward to,’ and so we decided to go ahead despite the fact that the numbers were smaller,” said Ford.
Meanwhile, Kiwanis Club of Providence Montego Bay President Barbara Grizzle said that the aim of the competition is to help build children’s confidence as they enjoy learning how to spell different words.
“The main focus is to help children to learn, to play with words, and to be more confident. We have seen it over the years, when children have come into the competition and they have improved, and we are so grateful that we can be the club that can help children from this age,” said Grizzle. “These children have exceeded our expectations, and we are so grateful for everyone who came in to help us with this year’s staging.”