GoodHeart | No word too hard for Senior Spelling Bee champ Beverly Been
Published:Saturday | September 20, 2025 | 12:07 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Representatives from the parishes of St Ann and St Andrew were on their A-game as they faced off for the nail-biting finals of the 2025 National Seniors Spelling Bee Competition on Wednesday evening. The Legacy Suite of The Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston was at capacity, and a sigh of dismay went up when Carey Henry from St Ann got one word wrong, signalling that the end was near. Up until then, Henry and Beverly Been from St Andrew had been masterfully spelling a collection of barely used words like “allelopathy”, “fibranne”, “feldenkrais” and “autochthonous”. At 5 p.m., spellmaster Althea McKenzie turned the final page on what looked like the big book of every word that the spellers studied from. Then, she gave Henry “agelicism”.
With the seconds ticking away, Henry asked for the pronunciation as she scribbled on her notepad. After what seemed like hours, but it was less than two minutes, she made an attempt. “That’s wrong,” an expressionless McKenzie said, and threw the word to a confident-looking Been, who slowly and deliberately cast her spell. “That’s right,” McKenzie said, and cheers erupted.
But, as they say “it aint over ‘til it’s over”. Been had one more word on her road to the championship title – “mageirocophobia”, which is an extreme fear of cooking. At 5:11 p.m., Been gave an almost imperceptible smile that said, “I got this.” With the entire room holding its collective breath, Been reeled it off.
“That’s right,” the spell mistress said with a smile and the cheers erupted. What most in the room didn’t know was that “mageirocophobia” was the very word that Been’s little granddaughter had quizzed her about not long ago.
Before celebrating, a gracious Been went over to Henry and congratulated her.
“I am feeling wonderful. I worked hard. I had to prove to myself that as a senior there is so much left in me to do and to give, and I want to set an example to other seniors. I am happy that I have put my club on the map,” Been said as she thanked God “first of all” and her family.
“I could not have done this without them. My precious family was here today to support me. My husband was my informal coach and my family gave me full support,” Been told GoodHeart.
Her son, Andre Vaccianna, said he was “elated, overjoyed and proud”, and her husband/coach was “relieved”.
“It wasn’t a matter of chance. She worked very, very hard and I suppose that kind of hard work deserves a reward. The final word was interesting. She was spelling this word on the tape and Andre’s daughter said ‘Grandma, what is that?’ And that was the same word that was the winning word,” Been’s husband, Basil, shared.
A retired teacher and president of the Summertime Senior Citizens Club of the Church of St Mary the Virgin on Molynes Road, Been said she had always been fascinated with words. When her son attended Vaz Prep, he was a Spelling Bee finalist, and she served as his coach. Been’s husband joked that his wife had finished the journey their son had started.
Been shared that as president of her club she pushed the need for members to “maintain their mental acuity” and she devised smart ways to do this. For example, when she takes the register, each club member has to repeat a Bible verse, or a poem.
“We are into challenging the brain. During this competition, I have learnt a bit about what the human brain is capable of. Learning these words was hard ... but once the word came out of the book, that was me ... 160 pages with more than one thousand words and I learned most, if not all of them,” Been said.
The competition was part of the Senior Citizens Month celebrations in September. Champion speller Been received $50,000 in cash, a tablet, a smartphone with credit, gift baskets, and a trophy. Henry took home $20,000 in cash, a smartphone with credit, a gift basket, and a trophy. Third-place winner Lesma Coote of St Catherine received a smartphone with credit, a gift basket, and a trophy. All participants were presented with plaques and prizes.
Organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through the National Council for Senior Citizens, the competition is open to individuals 60 years and older. Acting permanent secretary in the ministry, Dione Jennings, said the competition “celebrates lifelong learning, resilience and the indomitable strength and spirit of community [which] has no age limit”.