Chrismore goes from mathlete to spelling champ
MAY PEN, Clarendon:
St Gabriel’s Anglican Church Hall THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD CHRISMORE Robinson isn’t a stranger to winning parish titles as the now grade-eight student won the title as a mathlete in 2016, representing Spaulding Primary.
He admits that being an orthographer isn’t his passion. His father signed him up for the spelling programme because he was having difficulty in that area, and his coach introduced him to the spelling competition and it sparked his interest.
Preparation for the parish finals began in February, and Chrismore says that studying took a lot of early mornings and sacrifice. His favourite words to spell are long and multisyllabic.
Chrismore enjoys watching sci-fi films, playing outside, as well as video games. His favourite game to play is Gangster Vegas. He is a member of his school’s Technology and Science Club and his ambition is to become a pilot.
Coach on winning: “It’s the first time I’m winning in Clarendon and I felt happy about it. I am thankful. Over the years, I said I wasn’t going to stop until the day comes. I am thankful to God that this happened.”
Coach Wilson shared that Clarendon has always had strong competitors, so in training his students for this parish, he had to be hard on them.
Coach on preparing for
the national finals: I will get Chrismore to show more attention so that he can love it [spelling]. He likes spelling. He is happy when he spells. I see how he behaves when he is around the other spellers.
This is Coach Wilson’s third win in the 61st staging of The Gleaner’s Children’s Own Spelling Bee. He will carry Chrismore as well as Dominic Wynter of Munro College, representing St Elizabeth, and his daughter, Drizel Wilson, of Manchester High, representing Manchester, to the national finals next year.