THE KILLER BEES took home the big prizes as champions of the 2024 WEF Spelling Bee.
WAKEFIELD — WEF held its 6th Annual Adult Spelling Bee on Friday which drew a crowd of 12 lively teams who showed their Bee spirit with clever team names and costumes. Team names included “Barbee,” “Baller Bees,” “Thesaurus Rex”, and “Keep on Rockin’ in the Bee World.” This year’s Bee saw participation by school and town leadership, plus local businesses, including Co-Town Councilors Jonathan Chines and Mehreen Butt who were part of a hive known as “The Queen Bees.” Town Counselor Julie Smith-Galvin joined “The Killer Queen Bees.” School Committee member Stephen Ingalls and friends returned for another year rocking their AC/DC band shirts and jeans for team “Highway to Spell.” The Savings Bank formed a team and called themselves “TSB: The Scrabble Bees” and decked their table out with some elegant and homemade Bee themed treats. A spirited team of Galvin teachers formed a team called the “Galvin Generals.”
Andrew Tetrault (“Mr. T.”), Galvin Middle School Assistant Principal, returned for the 6th time as the emcee facilitating the Bee rounds and energizing the crowd. The game consisted of 8 rounds, each with 8 spelling words plus one trivia question. Mr. T. added his own style and humor to the script and kept the crowd entertained and engaged. Each of the 8 rounds had spelling words that were related to a theme. Because 2024 is WEF’s 35th anniversary, 3 of the rounds gave tribute to 1989- the year that WEF was founded. This tribute included topics entitled “Significant People and Places of 1989,” “Billboard Top 100 from 1989,” and “Movies from 1989.” Other rounds included: “Higher Education,” “April Showers Bring May Flowers,” and “Oh, stop your WINE-ING.” The spelling words ranged from traditional difficult to spell words, to more obscure words. The participants were challenged to spell words such as Czechoslovakia, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Chrysanthemum, Phlox, Hors d’oeuvres, Narcissistic, Connoisseur, and Riesling. Mr. T. masterfully pronounced challenging words and struck just the right balance to keep the spirit both competitive and fun. Wakefield resident Pete Healey served as the event DJ and worked in sync with Mr. T. to entertain the crowd throughout the evening.
WEF Board member Jennifer Theriault chaired the event with a lot of support from many dedicated WEF volunteers who buzzed around the West Side Social Club all evening handling technology, scoring, and answering participants’ questions.
During two intermissions, the scores were announced so that all could see the team rankings. It was a closely contested event and bonus points for showing Bee Spirit played a critical role in the final outcome. Teams were awarded 1, 2 or 3 extra points for their theme costumes. Participants on Team Barbee wore pink and several modeled long blonde hair wigs earning them first place and 3 bonus points. The Killer Queen Bees who wore black tops, yellow tutus and bee antennae came in second and received 2 points. Local business and longtime WEF supporter, The Savings Bank (“TSB: The Scrabble Bees”) had coordinated t-shirts and glasses with scrabble letters and bee themed snacks which won their team an additional bonus point.
In the end Team Killer Queen Bees were victorious with a total score of 99 points. Team Barbee came in second place with a score of 96 points, and The Queen Bees came in third place with 93 points.
The Killer Queen Bees proudly posed for the photo holding their bobble head Bee trophy and their gift bags of honey sticks.
According to Cary Mazzone, WEF Co-President, “The evening was a lot of fun and a big success for WEF. WEF relies on fundraisers like the Bee to raise critical funding for its annual grant process to benefit all Wakefield public schools. We thank all the Bee participants for coming out to support the work of the WEF.”
All proceeds for the Spelling Bee will support the mission of the Wakefield Educational Foundation, a 501(3) non-profit community-based organization dedicated to supporting and enhancing excellence in education for all students in the Wakefield Public Schools. Wakefield Educational Foundation, a 501(3) non-profit community based organization dedicated to supporting and enhancing excellence in education for all students in the Wakefield Public Schools. WEF has awarded over $690,000 across the Wakefield Public Schools since 1989. Learn more by following WEF on Twitter or Facebook, or go to WEF01880.org.
