New Spelling Bee Champions Rise to the Top

Siddharth Yedla was crowned the winner of the 25th Annual RBC Royal Bank Primary National Spelling Bee, while David Sanchez Williams emerged victorious in the 42nd Lions Club of Grand Cayman Secondary National Spelling Bee. Both competitions were held at the John Gray High School Performing Arts Hall.

Primary Spelling Bee

On 26 November, Siddharth Yedla, a nine-year-old Year 5 student from Cayman Prep and High School, was seated just four chairs away from his final opponent, Matthew Anderson of Edna Moyle Primary School. After Matthew misspelled “hyrax,” Siddharth calmly and confidently spelled the winning word —”guillotine”— securing the title.

He was awarded an iPad and the first place Spelling Bee trophy, generously provided by RBC Royal Bank.

“I feel great about being able to represent my school and winning the Spelling Bee because I have been working for this day and night,” said Siddharth.

Khadene Lobban, Area Vice President of Personal & Private Banking and Country Head for RBC Cayman Islands, praised the participants, saying, “It is wonderful to see our students expanding their vocabularies and gaining a deeper understanding of the value of language, as well as the importance of executing with grace under pressure. It takes courage and determination to stand and be tested in front of an audience. They have gained self-confidence, communication, and public speaking skills — qualities that will serve them well in their future studies and beyond.”

Matthew Anderson claimed second place, while his classmate from Edna Moyle Primary School, Matthew Moore, finished in third place.

A total of 52 students from 18 primary schools (including 2 home schools) participated in this year’s Spelling Bee competition.

Secondary Spelling Bee

On the following day, 27 November, 34 students from 12 secondary schools across the Cayman Islands competed for the coveted title of Spelling Bee Champion.

After four full rounds, an intense tie-breaker round took place between David Sanchez Williams of John Gray High School and Sanjana Sriram of Cayman International School. Eighteen words later, David was declared the winner after correctly spelling the final word “inexpugnable.”

Third place was awarded to Richard Scott of Layman E. Scott Sr. High School, Joseph Lawlor of First Baptist Christian School, and Zoey Ebanks of John Gray High School, who tied in the competition.

Lions Club representative Colleen Burke expressed her delight, saying, “It was a fantastic event, showcasing the impressive skills, dedication, and hard work of all the participating students.

Spelling Bee organiser and DES Senior Customer Services Manager, Mrs. Kimberly Kirkconnell, shared similar sentiments, stating, “As always, I was impressed by the calibre of our spellers and the bravery of our students to step up on that stage and spell words that many adults, including myself couldn’t spell. Every student should be proud of themselves for their performance today.”

For more details about the National Spelling Bee and other DES programmes, contact DES Senior Customer Service Manager Kimberly Kirkconnell by telephone at 945-1199 or by email at DESSchoolEvents@gov.ky .