highlights from LAST YEAR

MetLife Auto & Home reigned victorious at our second Annual Spell R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D Challenge, held Wednesday, September 28 at URI’s Paff Auditorium in Providence. With 23 teams competing from Rhode Island businesses and non-profits, the event netted over $28,000 for our Workforce Literacy Programs.

Governor Donald Carcieri and First Lady Suzanne Carcieri joined Dorcas Place President and CEO Brenda Dann-Messier and Board Chair Robinson Alston Jr. to kick off the event and retrieve the championship trophy held by our 2004 Challenge champs, the Spellbinders from the RI Department of Human Services.

The spirited competition, emceed by Mayor David Cicilline and NBC 10 Education Reporter and Weekend Anchor Kelley McGee, included four semi-final rounds and challenged even the most seasoned spellers with words like “perinephrium” and “hebdomad.” Teams from RI Legal Services, Clarendon Group, Women & Infants Hospital, and MetLife Auto & Home competed in the championship round—where MetLife edged out Women & Infants, correctly spelling “mnemonically” for the win.

Between semi-final rounds, we heard from Dorcas Place students Gunraya Sayavong, Julio Alonzo, and Wendy Zambrano, who reminded us all of the real reason for the evening.

The 2006 Spell R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D Challenge was organized by Event Co-Chairs Sara Shea McConnell, Patricia Coleman, and Susan Symonds and a dedicated committee of Dorcas Place volunteers. Many thanks to Karla Harry and Lynn Bowman from the Gordon School, to our timekeeper Senator Juan Pichardo, and our judges Justice Donald Shea, Michael Pare, Providence Business News Editor, and Debra Cusack from the Gordon School for ensuring the smooth progression of the event—from the first word to the last.

Teams and sponsors for the 2006 Spell
R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D Challenge included Adler Pollock & Sheehan PC, Christine & Michael Angelakis, Barrington Printing, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, “Teem Casey” from Casey Family Services, Inc., “The City Hall Spellers” from Providence City Hall, “The CCRI Scrabblers” from Community College of Rhode Island, “The (Clarentheticals)” from Clarendon Group, Inc.,
“Orthographers Unlimited” from Counseling & Psychological Services, “The Fidelity Frogs” from Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Wales University, KPMG LLP, Meeting Street, MetLife Auto & Home, “The Miriam Spellcheckers” from The Miriam Hospital, Motley Rice LLC, Narragansett Electric, Neighborhood Health Plan, “PPL Syllabicators” from Providence Public Library,
RDW Group, Inc., Residential Properties Ltd, “The Spellbinders” from the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, “Worksite Spellness” from Rhode Island Department of Health, “RILS Spellcheckers” from Rhode Island Legal Services, “Sovereign Spell Checks” from Sovereign Bank, Susan Symonds, “Spell Hath No Fury” from Textron Financial, and “The Spelling Storks” from Women & Infants Hospital.

In-kind contributors included Civic Center Parking Associates, Financial Innovations, Pippin Apple Orchards, Phantom Farms Orchards, Polar Beverages, Sam’s Club Warwick, Shaw’s Supermarkets, and Swarovski North America, Ltd.

Plans are already underway for our third Annual Spell
R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D Challenge that will be part of our year-long 25th Anniversary Celebration. Please save the date and join us on September 27, 2006!