Spellin’ Hellions Win the Hellacious IPEI Adult Spelling Bee
The eCornell Spellin’ Hellions outlasted 23 other teams before a packed house in IHS Bliss Gym to be named “Pick of the Hive” at the recent 10th Annual IPEI Adult Spelling Bee, sponsored by True Insurance. They captured the title by correctly spelling “miscellanea” after the F&CS Family Buzzers initially stumbled on it. Miscellanea is a plural noun meaning “miscellaneous collected writings, papers, or objects.” The two teams went head to head for several rounds after the Fall Creek Stingers and 2007 winners South Hill Spellicans were eliminated in the championship round.
The winning team was made up of eCornell staffers Lisa Hatfield, Alan McCarty and Joe Ellis who were ably cheered on by coach David Shoemaker. Joe Ryan, Linda Mack and David Campbell composed the runner-up Family and Children’s Services team.
In addition to the unique team Bee trophy, each member of the winning team received a ticket to another IPEI event called “Bee on the Bus”, a bus trip to Syracuse next spring to see the Tony Award winning musical comedy “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” courtesy of Welliver McGuire Construction and Capmark Real Estate Finance and Investment Services. Each member also won a $25 gift card to spend to support teacher classroom needs and projects listed on www.DonorsChoose.org. Teachers post their needs on the website and people who go to it can choose a classroom project to sponsor with their card.
Event coordinator Gabriele Weber declared the Bee the most successful yet. “There was a great turnout and the spelling competition was intense Queen Bee Jean McPheeters was once again her charming self, Chris Allinger did a wonderful job wrapping his tongue around some incredible words, and the WNYY radio audience received a real treat with the live broadcast by Geoff Dunn and Dave Vieser from the Cayuga Radio Group,” she said.
The Spelling Bee raised more than $10,000 for the IPEI Teacher Grant program. At its meeting the following day, the board approved 28 grants totaling $28,000. This represents a record number of awards and amount of money for the program. In addition to the Spelling Bee, funding for the grant program comes from the Charles E. Treman, Jr. Teacher Grant fund and individual gifts from community members.
IPEI is a community based not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that develops supportive community and private sector relationships with the Ithaca City School District. For more information, see www.ipei.org.
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