March 21, 2003 – Joey Emanuel, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Free Will Baptist School on St. Croix, won a lengthy duel with Lindeon Davis of Lockhart Elementary School on St. Thomas to win the 2003 V.I. Spelling Bee on Friday.
The event, held at Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School on St. Croix, saw Joey overcome 11 other competitors. He and Lindeon, champions in their respective districts, went more than 25 rounds undefeated. Then the word "belligerent" proved to be Lindeon's undoing, and Joey capped his victory with the correct spelling of "evanescent."
Joey won the right to represent the territory at the annual Scripps Howard National Bee in Washington, D.C., on May 28 and 29.
Two other Crucian competitors finished in third and fourth place — Chahney Hinds of Good Hope School and Letesia Williams of St. Patrick's School, respectively.
Also competing were Jana Wattley of Jane E. Tuitt Elementary School, Megan McGrath of Antilles School, Laurika T. Jude of Calvary Christian Academy and Kia-T'Nique Thomas of Michael J. Kirwan Elementary School on St. Thomas; Oshe Feldman of Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John; and Melvin Hendrikson of Arthur A. Richards Junior High School, Meinrad Jagrup of School of the Good Shepherd, and Ade Raphael of Country Day School on St. Croix.
The 2003 V.I. Spelling Bee was sponsored by the Education Department and the V.I. Daily News.
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