The Northampton Education Foundation held its 16th annual Adult Spelling Bee on March 30. Each year, this event raises money for small grants (up to $3,000) to teachers or parent-teacher partner teams in the Northampton Public Schools.
Now in its 25th anniversary year, with the support of incredible community generosity, the Northampton Education Foundation Small Grants to Teachers, the Support our Schools (SOS) Fund and the NEF Endowment Fund has awarded over $1.2 million to enrich and enhance every public school and student in Northampton.
Our grants have provided funds for gardens in our elementary schools, the Poetry Slam, The Northamptones, NHS Robotics, and many, many more programs.
This year, the Bee brought 38 team sponsors, 111 spellers, at least 40 volunteers, WHMP, NCTV, Herrell’s Ice Cream, Northampton Public School faculty, 13 community donors, and administrators and NHS Key Club student volunteers together for an event that has become a harbinger of spring and a demonstration of our public spirit.
We would like to give a shout out to Easthampton Savings Bank, which has been our primary sponsor since the Bee’s inception, and PeoplesBank which has become our regular and substantial supporter. Thanks also to everyone (including The Daily Hampshire Gazette) for bee-ing a part of this event.
Jeanne Hoose
Northampton