There was no shortage of adjectives to go around when Jonmore Hyman became the Manchester parish winner in The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee competition yesterday.

Confident, keen, interested and motivated. These were some of the words coach Cherila Maddan used to describe Jonmore. The well-spoken 11-year-old was also full of adjectives to portray his feelings about winning as well.

"I feel great, wonderful, elated; any word that describes happiness," said Jonmore, who was confident but nervous throughout the almost three-hour spelldown.

Strong family support

Part of that confidence is attributed to the strong family support which his parents, Valmore and Johnathan Hyman, have provided.

"His coach would instruct us how to go about helping. When he comes home in the afternoon, we would give him a session of spelling," the beaming mom explained.

Like last year, a high school student took the title. But that's where the similarity ends. Had Abigay Wilson of Bishop Gibson High triumphed, then it would have been like déjà vu, as Shari-Jo Miller, last year's national champion, was also from Bishop Gibson. But this year, it was a boy from Manchester High who was destined to celebrate - a boy who still knows how to have fun while preparing for the Bee.

According to his father, Jonmore still takes time out to go to the beach and do other fun stuff that children his age would enjoy. But the budding medical practitioner's favourite thing to do is tune in to Oral Tracey's 'Sports Commen-tary' every night on TVJ.

The Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee is being presented with the help of associate sponsor Jamaica National Building Society, and other sponsors National Commercial Bank, Wisynco Group Limited, Television Jamaica, the Victoria Mutual Building Society, Kirk Distributors and Tastee Limited.

Manchester

Overall champ: Jonmore Hyman

Champion girl: Abigay Wilson

Winning word: Acquittal

Number of schools: 26

Number of spellers: 47

Winning school: Manchester High

Top five

1 Jonmore Hyman, Manchester High

2 Abigay Wilson, Bishop Gibson High

3 André James, Mt St Joseph Preparatory

4 Abigail Senior, Mandeville Primary and Junior High

5 Kerette Adams, Mandeville Primary and Junior High.