Reaching Heights Spelling Bee turns 20

2010 cochampions Beth Woodside, Lisa Boyko and Carolyn Warner from the Cleveland Orchestra. Photo courtesy of Reaching Heights.

What do you get when you put musicians, lawyers and educators in the same room? You get a great time at the 20th Annual Reaching Heights Adult Community Spelling Bee. This year’s funfilled Bee will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., at Cleveland Heights High School.

More than 20 teams will vie for bragging rights and the coveted Big Plastic Bee Trophy. Many teams wear costumes and bring their own cheering sections – complete with signs and pom poms. Last year there was a tie for first place between the Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestral Orthographers Publicly Support Annoyingly Lengthy Acronyms) and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (Barratarous Orthographers).

This year’s teams include the Ulmer & Berne Law Office (U Be Spellin), the Heights Parent Center (Know Knothings) and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Dewey’s Decimators), just to name a few.

The contest raises funds for Reaching Heights programs, such as grants to teachers in the Heights schools. Past projects have included the creation of interactive social studies and English lessons at the high school level, a program to build relationships and prevent bullying at the middle school level, and a grant that helped kindergarten students focus on learning through sensory experiences.

Over the past 20 years, more than $270,000 has been raised to support educational excellence in the Heights schools.

The community is invited to cheer for their favorite teams, enjoy the silly costumes, buy a chance to win raffle items and lend support to public education. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted gladly.

Patrick Mullen is the executive director of Reaching Heights.