Owl about it? vOWLS crowned spelling bee champions
With teammates Jane Howes and Sally Johnston by her side, vOWLS player Kathryn Kavanagh holds up the correct spelling of the winning word "akaryote" to win the Dartmouth Education Foundation's 13th annual spelling bee fundraiser. Photos by Abby Van Selous
"The Beests" come in second place, after winning the competition last year.
These three witches are part of a returning team, known as the Spell Casters.
Contestants watch on as competitors on stage attempt to spell the word "phosphorescent" correctly.
A player on team Super Nerdio Brothers holds up the spelling of "mosquito," along with a drawing of the insect.
Team Word Warriors, represented by three Dartmouth High School educators, work together on the spelling of a word.
With teammates Jane Howes and Sally Johnston by her side, vOWLS player Kathryn Kavanagh holds up the correct spelling of the winning word "akaryote" to win the Dartmouth Education Foundation's 13th annual spelling bee fundraiser. Photos by Abby Van Selous
"The Beests" come in second place, after winning the competition last year.
These three witches are part of a returning team, known as the Spell Casters.
Contestants watch on as competitors on stage attempt to spell the word "phosphorescent" correctly.
A player on team Super Nerdio Brothers holds up the spelling of "mosquito," along with a drawing of the insect.
Team Word Warriors, represented by three Dartmouth High School educators, work together on the spelling of a word.
The Dartmouth High School auditorium was buzzing with excitement and a whole lot of spelling as students, educators and community members came together in the Dartmouth Education Foundation’s 13th annual adult spelling bee.
Twenty-one teams of either two or three members competed in the spelling bee, held on Wednesday, April 1, for a chance to be crowned the champion.
The winner of the night was team vOWLs, featuring three women associated with the Lloyd Center. Two of the women on the team were returning champions, having won the competition two years ago.
“We’re happy to support the Dartmouth Education Foundation,” said Kathryn Kavanagh, one of the vOWLs teammates. “Our efforts here, so it’s a lot of fun.”
She noted that ironically their few misspellings were all from using an incorrect vowel, calling it the “A’s and the O’s game.”
Jane Howes said their team had a “good mix” of players, including a French speaker who helped the team spell words like “cabaret” and “mademoiselle” and a biologist, who knew how to spell medical and scientific terms — including the winning word, “akaryote.”
The Dartmouth Education Foundation is a permanently endowed fund that’s part of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts. One of the sole purposes of the Foundation is to provide grant money to educators to fund “wishlist items.”
Co-chair Juana Souza said the Foundation distributes money to teachers who apply for grants for their classrooms and to “enrich the education of the students in the Dartmouth school systems.”
She noted that the Foundation acts a bit like a bridge between what the district is able to fund and what teachers think they need for their classrooms “outside of what the schools can provide.”
The spelling bee, which this year featured pun-filled teams like “vOWLS,” The Hip Bees” and “B Squared,” is the Dartmouth Education Foundation’s only fundraiser
Co-chair Stephen Witzig estimated that the Foundation has raised around $15,200 this year. With some funds carrying over from last year, the Foundation has between $15,000 and $20,000 in grant funds.
Every team that plays in the selling bee is sponsored by donators, whether they’re businesses like the Fiber Optic Center, individuals or people who wanted to remain anonymous.
“It comes from local businesses, parents, families, alumni that donate to this fund,” Souza said, “Sometimes year over year, and sometimes new people, new donors.”
When it comes to preparing for the spelling bee and choosing the words to feature, Witzig closeguards his process.
“What I can say is I want to make the first word a word that everyone can get, just to get the wiggles out,” he said.
The Foundation has “historically” never reused any words, which has given Witzig a “running list” of every word that’s ever been used.
“Last year I needed to come up with 74 words,” he said. “This year, I needed to come up with 82.”
He added, “It’s a judgement call on my part.”
