Three 2008 parish champions in The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee Competition recently received scholarships from the newspaper company, based on their performance in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

They are Tremaine Dixon, Lukel Miller and Shari-Jo Miller. The scholarships are valued at $30,000 each and the recipients are from Kingston, Mandeville and Trelawny.

Speaking at the presentation function at the The Gleaner's Kingston corporate offices, coach Rev Glen Archer stressed that the quality of parenting was necessary for the success of the recipients.

"I know that no one reaches their destination without the help of others, the level of discipline of the children made my job easy," he said.

Parents commended

Archer, a coach of many spelling bee champions, who coached Tremaine, recipient of the scholarship for the county of Surrey, commended parents for their attention to detail in monitoring the home and the ethical approach they used to motivate their children.

Stephen Miller, father of Shari-Jo (recipient for Middlesex), told Youthlink that parents need to acknowledge the needs of children and work with the teachers and monitor schoolwork in order to assist them.

"Though we have always known that she is a capable student, we still did not take things for granted," he said. "We still recognise that she's a child and she's always going to want to do the child things, so we have to ensure balancing the time between studies, but study was a priority."

Shari-Jo, who aspires to become a botanist, will attend Bishop Gibson High School. She said she was happy the hard work paid off.

"I did a whole lot of studying and had to make a lot of sacrifices also. I had to give up the TV and the video games," she said, laughing as her parents looked on.

Lukel, recipient for the county of Cornwall, from Albert Town Primary, will be going to Knox Community College. He said he developed self-esteem through the eloquence he developed from reading.

Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee Grade Six Achievement county scholarship recipient for Cornwall, Lukel Miller, is all smiles as he accepts a plaque from The Gleaner Deputy Managing Director Christopher Barnes.

Shari-Jo Miller, Middlesex County Scholarship awardee, shows off her trophy with The Gleaner's Chairman and Managing Director Oliver Clarke at the 2008 Grade Six Achievement Test luncheon.

Tremaine Dixon receives his trophy from Marketing Manager Karin Cooper.

Rudolph Speid (left), The Gleaner's group financial controller, hands over a cheque to Tremaine Dixon (right), Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) county scholarship recipient for Surrey, while Lukel Miller (second left) and Shari-Jo Miller look on during the recent Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee GSAT county scholarship luncheon, held at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston offices. Lukel is the recipient for Cornwall and Shari-Jo is the recipient for Middlesex.

- Photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer