Third annual adult Bee spells for literacy

NEWS/ COMMUNITY — Thirteen teams accepted the challenge in today’s third annual Adult Team Spelling Challenge and an hour and a half later there was only one team standing.

The event attracted more than 100 to the Hotel 540, fundraising for literacy.

The teams worked their way through three rounds of words such as shenanigans, quarantine, minuscule and — one that stumped a few — Secwepemc. That was an easy one for the Shuswap National Tribal Council team, though, who nailed it and even withstood a challenge from one team that found it on their smart phones spelled “Secwepmc.”

Other teams, like the Kamloops This Week Dangling Participles, the school district’s Werd Wizards, and the City council-Downtown Rotary collaboration The Killer Bees, fell to the faultless spelling of the Book Club’s Between the Covers keeners, who took home the winners’ plaque with 15 straight correct spellings.

The Bee, hosted by the Kamloops Early Language and Literacy Initiative (KELLI) and LinK (Literacy in Kamloops) has raised $20,000 for literacy programs over its first two years, all of which stays in Kamloops. Combined with the past two Raise-a-Reader campaigns and other donations, the total hits $200,000.

Disclosure: The above account does not profess to be from an objective source — Mel Rothenburger was the emcee for the Bee.