IPEI’s 17th Annual Adult
Spelling Bee on Sunday, March 1 raises $26,000
Over 300 members of the
community of all ages gathered for the Ithaca Public Education Initiative
(IPEI) Adult Spelling Bee on Sunday, March 1 in the Ithaca High School Wellness
Center Gym. The 17th annual event
featured 28 spelling teams of three adults each competing for the championship
Fuzzy Bee trophy and raising $26,000 for IPEI’s grants for teachers.
I.H.S. Bee-T-A, representing the Ithaca
High School PTA, was victorious spelling “idiosyncratic” after Highway to Spell
from Cayuga Radio Group misspelled it. Following four preliminary rounds with
seven teams in each, four finalist teams advanced to the championship round
including We Spell Krazy Good and the Bunco Bees. In addition, the Caroline
Bee-tniks were recognized for having the Best Costumes and Most
Spirit. The ICSD Librarians known as #icsdlibs raised the most funds for
their team entry.
Chemung Canal Trust
Company, the Blue Ribbon Champion Sponsor for the fifth year, was joined by Red
Ribbon Finalist Sponsor Wells Fargo Advisors and two Gold Ribbon Sponsors, Cayuga
Radio Group and Sciarabba Walker
& Co. Their corporate support covers
all event expenses so that team sponsorships directly support grants for
teachers. West Hill Graphics and Calf Audio were also key event partners.
Run like an official spelling bee, with rules, a
pronouncer, host, timekeeper, and three judges, event income also includes team
fundraising, a silent auction, event program advertisements, and a 50/50
raffle. Geoff Dunn pronounced the words with assistance from Zoya Segelbacher while
timekeeper Susan Piliero alerted spellers when their time had expired. Each round featured an honorary celebrity
bee-keeper assisting her: Cornell’s Robin Davisson, Chemung Canal’s Mike Wayne,
TC3’s Deb Mohlenhoff, and Wells Fargo’s Rob Ainslie. Judges included IPEI
founder Ralph Jones, Paulette Manos and Deborah Lynn. This year’s Bee host was Jean McPheeters.
Teams are known by creative names such as Highway to
Spell, Spell Sesquicentennial, Slightly Better than Autocorrect, Beankeepers, I.H.S.
Bee-TA, BJM Spell Casters, LACS Alternative Spellerz, and the Hilarious
Spell-Loehrs. Two teams were back after multiple championships: the Spellicans
and Fine Arts “Word” Boosters, and last year’s winners, We Spell Krazy Good
(WSKG), attempted a repeat victory. Some
teams were comprised of community
members who want to support local public education and enjoy spelling.
Others are closely connected to the
Ithaca City School District (ICSD): Ithaca Teachers Association, ICSD
Administration, ICSD Board of Education, ICSD Librarians, Belle Sherman
Elementary School PTA, Caroline Elementary School PTA, Northeast Elementary
PTA, Ithaca High School PTA, Ithaca High School Math Department, Lehman Alternative
Community School, Fine Arts Booster Group, and the Ithaca Council of PTAs.
Teams represented the
event sponsors and team sponsors
including CFCU, Wegmans, Carol Bushberg Real Estate, Audrey Edelman
RealtyUSA, Ithaca College, Cornell University, Trane U.S, Inc, True Insurance, Harris
Beach PLLC, CSP Management, Hunt Engineers, WSKG, UPS Store, Anchor Capital
Management, Robert Maciel Associates, Tompkins Insurance Agencies, Avital’s
Apiaries, and Wordsmyth. Championship Round prizes and new awards for the teams
with the best costumes, most team spirit, and highest fundraising were provided
by DonorsChoose.org, Steve Ryan, Susan McCutcheon, and Makepeace Candles.
Refreshments were donated by Aladdin's Natural Eatery, B
& W Supply Company, Collegetown Bagels, Cornell Orchards, Ithaca Coffee Company,
Mark’s Pizzeria, Ned’s Pizzeria, P&C Fresh, Subway, and Wings Over Ithaca. The
silent auction featured 32 items
provided by restaurants, museums, retail shops, salons and spas, educational
organizations, and inns. In addition, the event program features advertisements
from more generous businesses.
Events like the Spelling
Bee depend on participation of
many. The Bee Committee was chaired by
IPEI board member Jennifer Biloski and supported by IPEI Programs and Events
Manager Julie Langenbacher. Nora Shang, Karen Yearwood, Ellen Reuben, Michelle
Woods, David McMurry, Usha Raman, Marcie Wyant, Connie Patterson and Mary
Grainger volunteered as committee members, and IPEI board members were involved
with event preparation and production, too.
Student volunteers from DeWitt Junior Honor Society, and Ithaca High’s
Code Red Robotics team assisted at the event. Meira Braun and Grace Blodgett
were this year’s Bee Fairies escorting teams through all the rounds after words
were misspelled.
WRED, Ithaca High School’s state-of-the-art
television production facility and course, offers Digital Media students the
opportunity to produce shows in a real-world environment for the web and for
cable. Thanks to Steve Cass, Michael Reiff and their students, the Bee was
broadcast live stream and will be available for later viewing. Go to youtube, search
for IHSWRED, locate the playlist and find IPEI Spelling Bee.
During the last school
year IPEI awarded over $75,000 in grants, benefiting teachers and students at
all grade levels in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD). Grants are provided
for innovative educational projects including many that promote collaboration
between Ithaca schools and the community.
IPEI is a community based not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization
that develops supportive community and private sector relationships with the ICSD.
Founded in 1996, IPEI is committed to connecting school and community through
collaboration, engagement, gifts and grants. For more information, see www.ipei.org or
contact 256-IPEI (4734) or ipei@ipei.org.
IPEI
Spelling Bee teams by round
Round
1
The LACS
Alternative Spellerz
The Spell
Sesquicentennials
Family Buzzers
IHS Bee-T-A
Ithaca Wegmans
The Chomskbees
Slightly
Better Than Autocorrect
Round 2
BJM Spell Casters
The Spellicans
The Bees kNEES
Hi-Loehr-ious Spell-Loehrs
Parental Prowess
Highway to Spell
Ithaca Teachers Association
Round 3
#icsdlibs
A Doctor, a Lawyer
& a Sea Captain walk into a spelling bee....
y=mx+bee
The Bunco Bees
Board of Ed Buzz
The Eurypterrifics
Westhill <Ortho>Graphics
Round 4
Team Cobra
Caroline Bee-tniks
We Spell Krazy Good
Belle Spellers
Ghoti
Beankeepers
Fine Arts
"Word" Boosters
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