MCAEL to Hold First Adult Spelling Bee
Organizers at the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL) are hitting the dictionary to prepare for their first annual “Grown-Up Spelling Bee for Adult Literacy.”
The event, which will be held April 9 at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, is designed to bring the community together to focus on literacy issues in the County.
“Our hope is that we continue to build awareness about the 150,000 adults in Montgomery County who have limited English skills and want to take classes,” said Kathy Stevens, Executive Director of MCAEL. “We also want to engage the community in building our capacity so that we can be sure people in the community who want to learn English can so they can actively participate in the community,” she said.
The event will serve as a fundraiser for the organization where event sponsors enter teams of three people and compete against each other in a single-elimination, 45-minute competition.
Judges for the competition include Stewart Edelstein, Executive Director of the Universities at Shady Grove, DeRionne Pollard, President of Montgomery College, and Shirley Brandman, a member of the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education. The event emcee will be Lorna Virgili.
“Our goal is to promote adult literacy, expand fundraising and bring the issues of adult literacy to the forefront in Montgomery County,” said Peggy Keegan, an MCAEL volunteer. “We were looking for a mechanism in a way that could be memorable and focus on the issues that are so close to us and help the community realize that we’re here.”
MCAEL’s activities directly support a network of more than 70 adult ESOL and literacy service provider programs, and the more than 1,500 instructors and program staff they employ.
Find more information on MCAEL and the “Adult Spelling Bee” on their website here.
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