Our Scholars Are Changing Their World, The Word ‘Acetylenic’ Won’t Stop Them

Charitable Words Scholars Sarah Jernigan, Tia Garcia and advisory board member Elissa Yancey are amazing people who do a lot of important things to change the world. Charitable Words was proud and privileged that they represented our team at the Literacy Network’s 23^rd annual Spelling Bee Thursday night at the Holy Grail restaurant on Cincinnati’s bank’s restaurant row.

Quality people:

Sarah is on assignment at East End Adult Education Center, where she works with communications and tutors adults to attain their GEDs.

Tia is doing web site development and multimedia work with Melodic Connections, which provides music therapy to students with special needs.

Elissa, their University of Cincinnati Journalism School professor, led Sarah and Tia and other honors students over spring break to East Africa to create a documentary, “Telling True Stories on Tanazania,” which will premiere May 17 at an event at Pallet 23 in Cincinnati’s Northside.

That pretty much establishes how committed and cool they are. They can do a lot of things. But they could not spell “acetylenic,” the word for a “doubly unsaturated position on a molecular framework,” whatever that is.

So it was that the Charitable Words Scholars team trooped through three rounds of and then joined our cheering table to watch the action and devour cheese pretzels and chicken wings.

The conversation at that table quickly turned to support and congratulations to the surviving teams. Oh, and…wait until next year!

The Mount Notre Dame team (Kim Ostendorf, Ben Hunt, and Molly Rauch, shown with Literacy President Kathy Ciarla) got through five rounds and won with “pasticcio,” a word that describes musical work composed of various composers.

Not to be sore losers, but we would have gotten that one right. Anyway, congrats to the winners. Let’s move on, OK? It was simply a fun event with good people for a great cause that raised $12,000 for programs that serve 288,000 children and adults in need of basic literacy skills in Greater Cincinnati.

What was more important than who won was what Ciarla said: “It was amazing watching members of the 18 teams compete. The atmosphere was electrical as corporate leaders, community volunteers, and educators came together in a friendly competition, showing off their spelling skills and helping to raise funding for our programs.”

The Literacy Network champions the development of literacy in the individual, the family, the workplace, the school and the community by raising awareness, improving access and serving as a catalyst for literacy efforts. It also is home of Winners Walk Tall, a character building program for youth. All of the programs offered to adults and children are free and funded from private grants, donations and fundraising efforts.

For more information about Literacy Network programs, volunteer opportunities, or how you can help support literacy, please call 513-621-READ (7323) or visit www.LNGC.org.

And for information about the Charitable Words Scholars, click here. We are looking to match more students with worthy causes. Spelling abilities are just one criteria. Knowledge of chemistry words? Cool. Character, though counts most.

And be assured, Charitable Word Scholars will be back next year. For sure. To win.

Until then, students, please return to changing the world. Thanks.

Charitable Words.