Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Sade Dunbar gets a big bear hug from brother, Jordi, after she won the St Andrew leg of the Gleaner's Spelling Bee competition held at the newspaper company's North Street offices yesterday. Jordi won the St. Catherine final of the competition on Thursday.<

Sade Dunbar of Immaculate Conception High School yesterday became a two-time parish champion after winning the St. Andrew leg of the Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee.

Sade, who was champion for St. Catherine last year, took the top prize after a marathon contest at the Gleaner company's North Street offices. Sade's victory means that she and younger brother, Jordi, who won in St. Catherine, on Thursday, will be in the national finals in February.

But the St. Andrew title could easily have gone to diminutive Oren Thomas of Kingsway High, who gave everything he had in trying to claim the prize. Sade and Oren, as well as the other top five spellers, were excellent. Word after word came and they would not break.

'I was nervous'

"I was nervous throughout, but I took my coach's advice that I should relax," Sade revealed. The spellmistress had to use the unseen words (words not in the Spelling Bee book) after the spellers had exhausted all of those words.

Third went to Loren Ashley of Ardenne Preparatory School; fourth to Sebastian Reid of Lannaman's Preparatory and fifth to Tiffanie Williams of Our Lady of the Angels Preparatory.

The parish finals continue on Tuesday with the St. Thomas and Portland finals.