El Dorado pupil tops Peppy’s National Spelling Bee

Kabir Singh, son of WASA CEO Ganga Singh, is the winner of Peppy’s National Spelling Bee competition. The El Dorado South Hindu Primary school pupil beat 15 other finalists at the grand final of competition last Tuesday at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). The competition saw more than 15,000 standard three competitors from the eight educational districts throughout T&T, which spanned mote than 450 primary schools, contesting for a place in the final round. In the end Singh beat Jenna Mootoo of Fyzabad Presbyterian into second place when he correctly spelt “limousine.” Singh is an avid reader and wants to become a mechanical engineer.

 

 

He was joined on stage by his father and teacher to collect his trophies and prizes, which included a digital scrabble game, an e-reader with 100 pre-loaded books and a trip for three to Tobago. Minster of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh delivered the feature address and implored pupils to pay close attention to the fundamentals of spelling and arithmetic so that they can develop into positive contributors to society. He announced the launch of the Values Education Program and Citizenry Development, which are both geared toward building the nation’s youth into model citizens. The pupils and teachers in attendance were treated to performances from Flavorite Primary and Secondary Schools Soca Monarchs—Aaron Duncan and Ishmael Isaac. The competition, now in its fifth year, is supported by Flavorite Foods Ltd and Sandee Communications.  The Spelling Bee runs as a roving weekly park travelling across the country throughout the school term (September - May) and, in addition to the competition, features Peppy bouncy castles, interactive video games and refreshments.