Regina Bish of Kensington Primary School in Greater Portmore. She is the 2005/06 St. Catherine Spelling Bee champion. - PHOTOS BY ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
AFTER FINISHING second two years consecutively, Regina Bish of Kensington Primary School finally won the St. Catherine title of The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee.
She credits her mother for convincing her to enter the competition and is looking forward to the final.
"I am a little nervous before the national final because there will be a large crowd watching," she admitted.
The shy grade six student is currently top of her class in five subject areas. The three-hour training for four days a week is hectic, but her motivation is simply to win.
"The spelling bee has helped her letter writing and opened her vocabulary. Some of the words she's using I don't even know them," laughs her mother Janice Manning who remembers when Regina used to practise with the old black-and-white spelling bee book.
Regina, who wants to become a lawyer, is thinking about possibly coming back for another year. Bad news for the competition.
