Reaching Heights Spelling Bee for Adults Set for February 23

The public is invited to the 14th Annual Reaching Heights Adult Community Spelling Bee to be held Wednesday, February 23, 2005 at 7:00 PM, Cleveland Heights High School Auditorium, 13263 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights. Admission is free.

The friendly competition will feature 23 three-person teams who pay $500 to spell unnerving words like campanile, esclavage and kraken. The audience is invited to bring a pencil and compare their orthographic skills with these daring contestants or simply to cheer for their favorite team of teachers, lawyers, librarians, clergy, elected officials, mathematicians, students, PTA members, and developers. This year's bee features three new teams: Community Shares Spells JUSTICE the Come Back Kids, alumni of the Heights schools who have returned to the community to educate their children in the public schools and Upper Case, a team from Case.

Proceeds from the bee and raffle are used for Reaching Heights grants to school-based teams in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School district to implement innovative projects to support student achievement. Reaching Heights has invested more than $170,000 raised from this annual event in classrooms throughout the CH-UH school district since the first bee was held in 1992.

Bee sponsors include Dominion East Ohio, Huron Road Hospital, Judson Retirement Community, Medical Mutual, Motorcars Honda & Toyota in Cleveland Heights, and McGregor Retirement Community.

Coventry merchant Steve Presser is the Master of Ceremonies. John Carroll University Professor of Classical Languages Don Poduska and CH-UH Public Library director Steve Woods will pronounce the words. Judges for the competition that follows Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee rules are Federal District Court Judge Solomon Oliver, CH-UH Superintendent Deborah Delisle, Dr. Fred Travis, Professor of History, and former Cleveland Heights Municipal Court Judge, Lynn Toler.

A raffle featuring an iPod, a “bucket of fun” from Big Fun, and Cleveland Browns, Indians and Cavaliers sports items will add to the fun for the audience.

Reaching Heights is a non-profit citizen organization that mobilizes community resources to support the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools.