IN JAMAICA: No Stopping Tajaun: Clarendon (KNOX COLLEGE) Speller Is Champion Bee.....H-Y-P-O-G-E-U-S-I-A! That's the word 12-year-old Tajaun Gibbison spelt correctly to win the 2014 Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee championship.

H-Y-P-O-G-E-U-S-I-A!

That's the word 12-year-old Tajaun Gibbison spelt correctly to win the 2014 Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee championship.

Tajaun Gibbison,
Champion

Hypogeusia, which means a reduced ability to taste things, did not prove to be a challenge for the young speller as he reeled off the definition of the word for the judges and spellmaster Clive Lai with confidence.

Without getting a word wrong, Gibbison staved off stiff competition from 13 other parish champions to pull off an impressive win.

"I really expected this win, so it's nothing too exuberant for me. But I am very glad that God provided me with a chance and I capitalised on it," Gibbison stated.

The 2014 Gleaner's Children's Own
 Spelling Bee champion, Tajaun Gibbison (centre),
 is flanked by (from left) third-place finisher,
 Javane Johnson; Gleaner Managing Director
 Christopher Barnes; Nordia Craig, manager,
business development and marketing; and
second-place finisher, Chaunte Blackwood. -
 PHOTOS BY Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

The second-form Knox College student said winning the trophy had been a dream of his for several years. He got his first taste of the competition when he entered at 10 years old in 2011.

Gibbison was to enter again last year but did not manage to make it past the parish finals; however, he said he regrouped, got a different coach in the form of the Reverend Glen Archer, and dedicated more time to practising. more