Scrabble Bee team triumphs again in Literacy Bee,
but reveals a secret wish for 2009
Staff and friends of NWTC took first place in the 6th Annual Scrabble Bee benefitting Literacy Green Bay.
Team members (pictured at right) are: Tom Hinz, Ursula Hinz, Julie Chapman, Kim LaPlante, Deb Stackley, Mary Van Haute, Al Van Haute and Mary Kay Pfeiffer. Also pictured is Pete Petoniak from Fox-11 News (Master of Ceremonies).
The competition was held Feb. 21 at the SC Grand. NWTC's team also took first place in 2006, but this year's contest involved many more teams. In fact, at the beginning of the evening, Literacy Green Bay had already collected more money than last year. After the raffles, silent auction, and purchasing of extra Scrabble tiles or dictionary peeks, they announced that they had doubled last year’s collection.
Competitors also had slightly less time this year - two 15-minute rounds, versus one 15-minute round and one 20-minute round in the past. But what they lacked in time, they made up for planning, according to team member Kim LaPlante.
"Our team has a great strategy," she noted. "The judges tell us what our first word must be and where to place it. (Round 1 was 'snowstorm,' and round 2 was 'presidential.') All of the words we create have to relate to that theme. We separate all of the tiles quickly and brainstorm to come up with words that are 15 letters long (to cover an entire side of the board and combine three triple word scores). After we build these super-words, we work to connect them to the initial word in the middle of the board." (See photo below right of the team's game board from round 2 with their winning words.)
The group does have one more goal for next year, however.
"Some of the teams wore costumes or matching t-shirts," Kim commented. "Next year, we want necklaces that spell NWTC using Scrabble tiles."
Proceeds from Literacy Green Bay’s largest fundraising effort are used to support ongoing learning programs offered to the community by the organization. | 
 |