Practice and lots of reading puts Spelling Bee winner to the top of the chart
By Olivia Bradbury
A sixth-grade student from Lakecrest Independent school in St. John’s was named champion of the 2026 Elks Avalon Spelling Bee.
After The Telegram could no longer organize an annual spelling bee for the St. John’s metro area, members of St. John’s Elks Club 245 stepped up. Since then, the bee has expanded to include schools from across the Avalon. The event is sponsored by The Shoreline, allNewfoundlandLabrador, the NL Credit Union, and College of the North Atlantic. The 2026 Elks Avalon Bee was held at CNA’s Prince Phillip Drive campus on May 2.
“I think one of the biggest reasons we do this is because it’s about giving back to the community,” said CNA president Liz Winney. “We believe in partnering with folks like the Elks Club and giving back to the youth that are all around here.”
Winney said it’s also a chance to introduce young people to the college, which they may attend in the future.
This year’s Bee featured 27 competitors from Grade 4 to Grade 8. The champion was Thomas O’Brien, a sixth grader who won by correctly spelling the championship word “iota.” The runner-up was fifth grader Devon Snow from Upper Gullies Elementary, and third place went to fourth grader Mason Gill of Octagon Pond Elementary. Gill was a divisional winner in the 2025 Elks Avalon Bee.
The top performer from each grade level received a Young Readers Award, an Indigo bookstore gift card. The cards were donated by Elks Club member and retired journalist Deanne Fleet in memory of her late mom, Helen Fleet, herself an avid reader who fostered a joy of words and reading in her children.
Gill, Snow, and Thomas were the winners within their respective grades. The final category, which combined Grades 7 and 8, had a tie between two seventh graders from Brother Rice Junior High: Michelle Obi-Okpoko and Jace Sombremesana.
O’Brien, meanwhile, attributed his victory to a lot of practice and reading many books. He named The Hobbit and Harry Potter as among his favourites. His father, Frank O’Brien, said Thomas put a lot of work into preparing for the bee, and that it was nice to see the result.
“But he has more fun than anything else,” said the dad. “It’s really a fun thing for him, and he really enjoys it.”
Gina Parsons, Thomas’ principal, expressed pride in both him and his fellow Lakecrest Independent student Aadeen Ashrafee, who also participated in the bee.
“Both have worked very, very hard,” said Parsons. “For all the years that we’ve been involved in the spelling bee, both have been our top contenders.”
Parsons said it takes courage for children to put themselves out for competition in the bee and she commended them for it.
All the students who participated in the Bee received free passes for themselves and their families to visit Memorial University’s Botanical Gardens and the Johnson Geo Centre. They will also each get two tickets for a future Newfoundland Regiment major junior hockey game.
Thomas will compete in the Canada Super Spelling Bee in Ottawa in July.