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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Spelling bees are a quintessential aspect of school, immortalized through films and television shows alike. Many times portrayed as stressful, high pressure events, the Medfield Coalition for Public Education (MCPE) has been fighting against this idea for the past twelve years. On Tuesday, April 4, the MCPE held its 12th Annual Spelling Bee. Participants come from the Dale Street and Wheelock Schools. Competing in teams of two to four, many of the students had themes for their teams, dressing up and clearly enjoying the event.
Adrienne Brooslin explained how they prepare for the event. “We advertise at Dale and Wheelock Schools. We go into their schools and we go in during lunch time and talk to the kids about whether they want to sign up for the spelling bee,” she explained. “We hand out little stickers with the website of where they can sign up, and the parents go on and sign up.”
Participants range from second grade to fifth grade. This year, there were 348 students signed up, which is surprisingly a smaller group than usual - typically, the Bee hosts 350 to 400 students. “There’s one winner for Wheelock School, which is second and third grade, and one winner for Dale Street School, which is fourth and fifth grade,” Brooslin elaborated.
This particular Spelling Bee does not feed into any higher level ones. “It’s just kind of a fun, low-key, low stress event,” Brooslin added. All of the money raised during the event goes back into Medfield schools. “It’s not really a school event, but the schools are very generous; a lot of the judges in there are teachers from the schools. Superintendent Marsden is in there, and he helps out. It’s sort of a combined community event.”
MCPE is a non-profit that hosts numerous events throughout the year to fundraise for Medfield schools. In addition to the Spelling Bee, these events include the Fall Ball, trivia events, and Left-Center-Right. In addition, they award grants to support the development of innovative programs and enrichment.
