Writing Center to hold first adult spelling bee Wednesday
The Central Michigan University Writing Center will host its first adult spelling bee at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Anspach 255.
Students and staff may enter the event any time before it starts by filling out a form at all WC locations. Contestants must donate $5 to enter, which goes to funding the Writing Circle and the graduate student literary magazine "Temenos."
The idea for the bee came from Midland graduate student Amee Schmidt and Mount Pleasant graduate student Regan Schaeffer.
Schmidt is the Writing Circle vice president and editor-in-chief of "Temenos," and Schaeffer is President of the Writing Circle and Managing Editor of "Temenos." Both see the event as a great lead into Thursday's National Day on Writing.
“The spelling bee is a fun way to think of the way that words work in our lives in different ways,” Schmidt said. “The spelling bee we set up to be like a kickoff to the National Day on Writing.”
NDOW was created to encourage people to write, no matter what it may be.
On Thursday, there will be a CMU Writes! survey available for students, faculty and staff to track how much they write in a 24-hour period.
“Everybody wants to communicate well and writing is a physical practice of how to communicate well,” Schaeffer said. “We truly believe everybody writes all day long and writing is really important for everybody.”
The winner of the bee will receive a $25 gift card to Bennigans. Second and third place will receive a Writing Circle T-shirt.
If eliminated, competitors will be allowed to buy their way back into the competition with another $5 donation.
“It’s not your regular spelling bee,” Schmidt said. “We’re doing this for a lot of fun and for a fundraiser. Say somebody goes out on their first word, they can donate another five dollars and get back in. We’re only allowing one time because I’m sure somebody would drop 100 bucks on it to keep going.”
Most importantly, the bee's creators are looking to give those who entered and the spectators a good time.
“We’re going to have a blast, which hopefully will help others have a blast too,” Schaeffer said.
