Jody-Anne Maxwell

Jody-Anne Maxwell
Born1986 (age 37–38)
Kingston, Jamaica
EducationUniversity of the West Indies
Norman Manley Law School
Known forFirst non-American to win the National Spelling Bee

Jody-Anne Maxwell (born 1986) is from Kingston, Jamaica and was the winner of the 1998 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 12.[1] She made history as the first non-American to win the competition.[2]

According to Ebony magazine, Maxwell, who was also the competition's first Black winner, was viewed as a celebrity on her return to Jamaica.[3] Maxwell also attained significant fame in Jamaican communities within the United States.[4]

Maxwell qualified for the Scripps competition by winning Jamaica's National Spelling Bee Championship, which her sister Janice had also won in 1990.[3] Her prizes for winning the national bee included $10,000 cash,[1] and an education trust fund of $11,000 (U.S).[5]

She later went on to host the local Jamaican program The KFC Quiz Show with various co-hosts, (the first two being Dominique Lyew and Damar Pessoa) up until 2004 when the post was handed off to Samantha Strachan and Raine Manley Robertson.[6]

Maxwell was also a contestant on Nickelodeon's game show Figure it Out in 1998. She successfully stumped the panel of judges for all three rounds.

In 2012 she attended the Norman Manley Law School at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.[7]

Maxwell is also a past student of the prestigious Ardenne High School in Kingston, Jamaica.

  1. ^ a b "Jamaican girl crowned national spelling champ: Wins $10,000 by correctly spelling 'chiaroscurist'". CNN. 28 May 1998. Archived from the original on 16 March 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2006.
  2. ^ Archibold, Randal C. (30 May 1998). "A Spelling Champion for All Jamaicans; 12-Year-Old From Kingston Is a Hero for Winning in Washington (Published 1998)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Spelling her way to success: first black winner of championship is celebrity in Jamaica - Judy-Anne Maxwell wins 1998 National Spelling Bee". Ebony. FindArticles.com. October 1998. Archived from the original on 24 April 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2006.
  4. ^ "City's Caribbeans Share W-I-N Apple Under Spell Of Champ From Jamaica". Daily News. New York. 31 May 1998.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Hoffman, Lise (September–October 1998). "Spelling's queen bee - Jody Anne Maxwell of Kingston, Jamaica is winner of Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee". The Saturday Evening Post. FindArticles.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2006.
  6. ^ "Jody-Anne Maxwell". IMDb. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Jamaica Gleaner News - All grown up! - Lead Stories - Sunday | April 5, 2009". Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.