Staff Board of Trustees
News from Reaching Heights
For Immediate Release
February 25, 2005
For information contact Susie Kaeser, 932-5110
The competition was fierce but friendly in the 14th annual Reaching Heights Adult Community Spelling Bee held February 23 at Cleveland Heights High School that generated more than $14,000 for grants to the Heights schools.
After 13 rounds the judges declared two winners: the Can-Do Spellers from Canterbury Elementary School and the Thompson Hine LLP lawyers team. The impressive orthographers on the Can-Do team are Chantal Akerib, Darlene Horton and Rebecca Martin. The knock-out spellers for Thompson Hine are Tom Aldrich, Linda Striefsky, and Kelly Kosek. This is a first time victory for both teams.
By the end of the sixth round, the field of 23 teams was narrowed to four. In round seven the City-School Connection veteran spellers Nancy Dietrich, Barbara Hodgkiss and Vince Reddy stumbled on soliterraneous. RoxFairRox spellers Marty Friel, Cynthia Roy, and Marguriet Sims were eliminated trying to spell graphorrhea. These teams tied for third place. The final two teams battled through six more rounds of impossible words such as catachresis,empleomania, and faveolate. Each team spelled one correct word in the next six rounds before the judges called a shared victory.
John Carroll University professor Dr. Don Poduska and CH-UH Library Director Steve Wood served up the words in front of an enthusiastic and supportive audience encouraged by Wiley and Monticello Middle School cheerleaders. Steve Presser was the Master of Ceremonies and Judge Solomon Oliver, Superintendent Deborah Delisle, and professor Fred Travis served as judges.
Each team paid an entry fee of $500 to spell. McGregor Retirement Community sponsored the Strong Women Team and Judson Retirement Community gave partial support for the RoxFairRox team. Dominion East Ohio, Medical Mutual of Ohio and Motorcars Honda & Toyota in Cleveland Heights each made $250 donations as bee sponsors and Huron Road Hospital gave $500. Twenty-two donors sponsored words in the bee for $10 to $200.
Cleveland Heights merchants Big Fun, Zagara's and Mac's Backs Paperbacks donated items to the raffle as did Target, Beth Sersig and Chris Brandt, and Cleveland sports teams the Browns, Cavaliers and Indians. Proceeds from the raffle added nearly $500 to the event bringing the total funds available for new grants to schools to $14,300.
Reaching Heights will invest these funds in the CH-UH schools for projects to improve student achievement in the 2005-06 school year through the School Team Grant program.
Three teams and 32 spellers made their first appearance in the 14th bee. The new teams are the Come Back Kids, 1991 graduates of Heights High who have come back to the Heights to raise their families and use the public schools; Upper CASE, a faculty team from Case Western Reserve University ; and the Community Shares Spells Social Justice team.
Other teams included 14-time entrees from the Boulevard Elementary PTA, Forest Hill Church- Presbee Spellers, and Cleveland Heights Teachers Union. This was the 13th bee for www.heightslibrary.spellers , Kiwanis Key Club, and Squire Sanders & Dempsey. Other school-based teams that have been frequent past participants include the Heights High PTSA & Zagara's team, Noble Knights, Monticello-Oxford PTA, Wiley/Gearity PTA, and the Coventry PTA and Merchants team. Three members of the CH-UH Board of Education spelled for the second time as did a team of Coral Company employees. John Carroll University 's Oblique Asymptotes, Strong Women and Just Say Yes to Spelling completed the field.
Reaching Heights is a community-based support organization for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School district and public school advocate.
