National Spelling Bee Competition: Rodrigues (Form I to Form IV)

The 12th edition of the National Spelling Bee Competition for secondary schools in Rodrigues took place on Thursday 16th June at Marechal College. Paul Gormley, Economic Officer of the US Embassy, was the first Pronouncer and Lelio Roussety, former Commissioner for Education, was the second Pronouncer for the competition. The judges were Mrs Marie Josia Lim Kim, Commission for Arts & Culture and Mrs Marie-France Roussety, President of ESU-Mauritius. Formally targeting Form I and Form II students only, the Spelling Bee has since been extended to Form III and Form IV students, and participation in the competition has steadily risen every year to now reach 72 students from all six schools in Rodrigues. Despite the high level of the competition this year, the four winning students did their very best to correctly spell the words. Their precision and effort was indeed rewarded. The four winners are: Form I: Eliane Samoisy from Rodrigues College, Form II: Jeremie Hortense from Rodrigues College, Form III: Lysianne Guillaume from Rodrigues College and Form IV: Victoria Tolbize from Marechal College. All participants in Rodrigues received prizes from the US Embassy and T-Shirts and pens from the Mauritius Commercial Bank, as well as certificates from the ESU. In addition, the four winners (Form I, II, III and IV) received generous cash prizes and corporate gifts from the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd and medals from the ESU. Sponsored by the Commission for Education of the US Embassy, and the Mauritius Commercial Bank, the competition was launched in Rodrigues in 2005. Every year, the US Embassy and the MCB sponsor these competitions by offering prizes to all finalists.