Cresian Macdonald wins KCNK Little Bee Spelling Competition finals

Cresian Macdonald of Stratton Early Childhood Development Center emerged champion of the 2026 KCNK Little Bee Spelling Competition finals, staged by the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston for four- and five-year-old children from early childhood and preparatory schools.

The contest brought 10 finalists to the stage after earlier rounds of competition. Represented schools included Bethany Early Childhood Development Center, Chevan's Basic School, Excelsia Primary and Infant School, Junior World Learning and Activity Center, Lalis Gay Early Childhood Institution, Porter Center for Knowledge, St. Teresa Preparatory School, Stratton Early Childhood Development Center, Sunray Educational Center and The Choice Academy.

The finalists named during the programme were Joshua Wishart, Orlando Hyatt, Atu Downer, Vanessa Cousins, Kiara Clark, Benjamin Wedderburn, Drew Harris, Cresian Macdonald, Siara Taylor and Kylin Bell. The children first worked through prepared words before the competition moved into unseen words.

Under the rules outlined for the finals, competitors had to be four or five years old and must not have reached their sixth birthday on or before June 30, 2026. Each child was given 30 seconds to spell a word, with eliminations beginning in round three. The audience was also warned that prompting a child would lead to the school's disqualification.

Kelly Magnus served as spell master, while the judging panel included head judge Claudet Carter, Linda Pennycook and Hortense Reynolds. Judith Stri was identified as timekeeper.

Macdonald secured the title after correctly spelling "wrong" in the closing stage of the contest. Siara Taylor was announced as second-place winner, while Drew Harris of St. Teresa Preparatory School took third place and was named champion boy. Stratton Early Childhood Development Center was declared the champion school.

Organisers described Little Bee as the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston's signature project, aimed at strengthening spelling and literacy among young children. The programme was said to have grown from six participating schools in its first year to 28 schools in 2026.