Latest update April 21st, 2026 12:24 AM
Seven-year-old aiming to become spelling bee champ
– wants to be a pilot
Scott Figuerado is like any other fun-loving child his age.
But Scott is different from his peers in that while they are spending the long August holidays playing outdoor games or watching television, the seven-year-old from Yarrowkabra will be happily poring over the many books he has.
Scott is fascinated with the printed word and he is at present on the verge of becoming the spelling bee champion of his community.
Scott Figuerardo
His mother, Voletta Figuerado, says that Scott’s love for books and words began long before he could walk.
“I started reading to him from the time he was a baby,” a smiling Ms. Figuerado told Kaieteur News this week. “I would read to him and sing him to sleep.”
“He was a surprising child. At the age of seven months, he was walking and by the time he was a year old he was talking in complete sentences. We used to be left amazed.”
By the time he was four, Scott was reading bible stories in children’s books.
A single parent who was unable to complete her education because she grew up poor, Ms. Figuerado was determined that her talented son would get the opportunities that she never had.
By the age of two she had enrolled him in a ‘starters’ school, and he was soon amazing his teachers with his knack for reading and spelling.
At every opportunity, Ms. Figuerado also invests part of her limited financial resources in reading materials for her son, who attends the Kuru Kururu Primary School and is a top performer.
Scott caught the eye of the media a few weeks ago with his participation in a spelling bee contest, which is organised by the youth arm of the Yarrowkabra Community Policing Group.
Voletta Figuerado says she learned of the competition a few days before it began. She enrolled Scott in the contest two days before it began.
“He had to learn 50 words between Friday and Sunday (the day of the contest).” She recalled with amusement that Scott commented that the words were “too easy” when the club president attempted to enroll him in the junior category (eight to eleven years).
“He said ‘I don’t want the junior form, I want the senior form.’”
According to Scott’s mother, the lad’s presence seemed to intimidate some of the senior participants (aged 13 to 16).
Scott did his mother proud by reaching the finals without misspelling a single word.
He is due to participate in the finals today and Voletta Figuerado is confident that he will emerge the winner.
She says that Scott wants to become a pilot. Mrs. Figuerardo, who also has a six-year-old daughter, is determined to help him achieve his dreams.
“I was unable to go far in school, and if I have to go the extra mile I will do so for my children. I pray that he will be able to achieve his ambitions.”
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