Spelling Bees are a popular challenge for elementary-aged minds across the nation. Thursday night, the Lee County Literacy Coalition extended this test to adults within the Auburn and Opelika community in its 15th annual Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee fundraiser.
Chicken Salad Chick and the Auburn University Department of English tied for third place. AuburnBank came in second and the Auburn Rotary Club won the competition.
The Spelling Bee is unorthodox in more ways than age demographic. Local businesses and organizations are invited to register with the Lee County Literacy Coalition and compete. Each participating business offers two representatives to participate in what Stacie Money, administrative director for the Lee County Literacy Coalition, described as a “speed spelling bee.”
The two representatives alternate turns and spell as many words as they can in a two-minute span. An announcer reads new words as quickly as the contestants finish spelling them. The business or organization whose contestants correctly spell the most words wins.
Money said the Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee is one of the Coalition’s larger fundraisers of the year.
“This is one of our fundraisers that helps us be able to offer our services for free,” Money said.
Money said the Lee County Literacy Coalition offers free literacy and math tutoring for adults in the community. The organization also offers workshops and tutoring for tests such as the GED.
“We have approximately 70 volunteer tutors in our community,” Money said.
Money estimated the organization impacts between 300 and 400 people each year through its programming.
Spelling Bee emcee Pam Powers-Smith believes illiteracy is an often overlooked issue within the community.
“Reading’s something we take for granted all the time,” Powers-Smith said.
Powers-Smith said that in focusing on adult literacy the Coalition helps adults in other real-world settings such as job applications.
“I think it’s something that a lot of people just don’t know that there’s an issue with,” Powers-Smith said.
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