The British Virgin Islands Reading Council will be illustrating ways in which literacy can be fun when it hosts its annual Adult Spelling Bee Competition later this month.

The council is partnering with local telecommunication provider, CCT to host the competition.

Teams of three will compete in the spelling competition for the coveted first place title and three smartphones with three months of CCT service, while helping to raise awareness of literacy efforts.

Co-President of the Reading Council, Mrs. H. Lynden Smith said the council is committed to addressing literacy and its problems within the Virgin Islands by identifying and solving the various factors that influence reading progress.

Mrs. Smith said, “Success depends increasingly on advanced literacy skills and if our students do not comprehend the basic literacy skills, then they are bound to fail. There is a literacy problem and we need to address it.”

Mrs. Smith added that the adult spelling competition is the first of the many initiatives and activities that the council has planned. She said the council will host a Run/Walk for Literacy in June and a variety of activities to address all levels of learning are in their planning stages.

The Reading Council’s Co-President is encouraging interested persons within the Territory to join the council. “In order for us to thoroughly identify and address the problems affecting literacy within this community we will need support and assistance by way of membership,” she said.

The annual adult spelling bee competition will be held on Saturday, May 28 at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium, H. Lavity Stoutt Community College Paraquita Bay campus beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Persons can register by contacting Mrs. H. Lynden Smith via telephone number 468-2530 or by emailing lynden_smith@hotmail.com on or before Wednesday, May 18.

     The BVI Reading Council was established as a non-profit, voluntary, professional organisation in 1995 with a mandate to foster the love of reading throughout the Territory. The council works alongside the Ministry of Education and Culture to fulfil its mandate.