Can you spell “bouillabaisse?"
Southern BellesThis highly seasoned fish stew is not easy to make, and equally as difficult to spell. However, for The Academics, Lois Lupica, Deborah Tuerkheimer and David Rosen, bouillabaisse proved a culinary delight at the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation (CEEF) Spelling Bee, leading to their second straight championship. However, victory came only after a battle with the second place team, The Spelling Scalpels, a well-scrubbed trio with members Brad Cushing, Robert Winchell and Dave Clark.
Spelling Survivors
Many of the thirty-six teams competing on April 29th in the crowded Pond Cove Cafetorium wore creative costumes, adding levity to this academic event. The Verrill Dana Legal Bee-gles arrived with their beagle mascot Streak, the Idexx Mad Cows had full cow headwear, Preti Flaherty sent a team of monks, and the Olymbeeans looked divine in their togas.
The Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening, Tory Ryden, an anchor for News 8 and a mother of four children in the Cape Elizabeth schools, brilliantly kept the teams on task as the event moved through the initial six preliminary rounds. Judges Ogden Williams, Margaret Welch and Nancy Murphy, as well as timekeeper Andy Strout, ably assisted her throughout the evening.
In the Championship round the tension in the room was palpable, as the six contenders, including a Middle School teacher team and a Middle School student team, vied for the championship. However, after eliminating teams with such difficult words as “desiccated” and “codicil”, it came down to the final two teams and the word “bouillabaisse”.
The Education Foundation would like to thank the one hundred and eight spellers who left the audience spellbound, as well as the many corporate and individual sponsors whose generosity enabled teacher, student and non-profit teams to compete.
CEEF was founded by a group of residents and educators in 2001 to raise funds to enhance the educational experience for Cape Elizabeth’s children due to continuing constraints on public funds. Thus far CEEF has awarded $30,000 in grants to teacher for innovative programs, will fund up to an additional $20,000 in grants this month, and recently committed $27,000 in a partnership with the School District to extend the laptop initiative into the High School. The $10,500 raised from Spelling Bee will help to make these future grants possible.
by Susan Spagnola