There’s a reason 8-year-old Nadia Leoni is Julius E. Sprauve School’s top primary school speller – she likes to spell.
“And you can learn new words,” the second grader said.
She said that even if you don’t know the word, it’s still possible to get it right if you’re a good speller.
Nadia won Sprauve’s March 30 primary school spelling bee by correctly spelling the word crater. She then had the opportunity to participate in the St. Thomas/St. John district spelling bee, where she didn’t win but like all the other participants, came home with a trophy.
Nadia had lots to say about the benefits of participating in spelling bees. In addition to getting to stand up in front of other students, tell them her name and grade, she enjoyed having a good time and getting presents when it was over.
Sprauve School Assistant Principal Brenda Dalmida called Nadia a hard-working student who’s a great reader and writes very well.
She seems poised to spend her life in the public eye. She already excels at ballet and piano at the St. John School of the Arts, sings lullabies to her sister Mary, age 2½, and waits tables and cooks at her parents’ Cruz Bay restaurant, Da Livio.
“I love to cook almost any type of food,” she said.
She especially likes cooking eggs because they’re healthy. She said that perhaps she’ll own her own restaurant when she’s older. Or perhaps she’ll go to Hollywood and be a star.
Or maybe she’ll be a fortune teller.
“I can read hands,” she said.
Born in Italy, she’s lived on St. John since she was three. While she said her Italian grandparents come to visit, she also visits them and the puppy she now has in Italy.
She’s no stranger to dogs, and likes to interact with Magnolia, owned by Diane Ripley, board member of the Animal Care Center of St. John, who takes the dog to Sprauve for an after school program.
Nadia has a pet fish. She wasn’t sure of the type but said it was dangerous. And it was going to have babies because it had a “big belly.”
Nadia enjoyed her visit to the Friends of V.I. National Park’s Earth Day on April 29, where she said she learned about recycling.
The sky’s the limit for Nadia, who remains busy with school, outside activities, shopping and going to the beach. She enjoys her family and friends, and said she likes it when people are nice to her and smile at her.
“I like to have fun, and I really like parties and having friends around me,” she said.
