Column: Clearinghouse for Volunteers

02/13/09 - Do you remember your fifth grade spelling bee? The time you froze and forgot how to spell "ambidextrous" in front of the entire class?Well, if you're seeking revenge, now is your chance.

The University of Rhode Island Feinstein Center for Service Learning is bringing you back to the fifth grade by hosting its first annual "Team Spelling Bee for Literacy" to benefit the URI Literacy Awareness Alternative Spring Break Program.

The spelling bee will be held Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Swan Hall Auditorium.

However, this spelling bee has a twist. The event consists of teams, rather than individuals.

Teams of three to six people compete for the grand prize (yes, there are prizes!) by working as a team to spell challenging words. The announcer will give a word to a team, and the team will have a limited time to deliberate how the word is spelled.

After the team's time is up, its leader will start off the word by saying the first letter, and the second player will give the second, and so on.

Those who wish to participate will receive a detailed description of the rules of the game.

This fun and interactive spelling bee will not only be very entertaining to watch, it will also raise money for the URI Literacy Awareness Alternative Spring Break through a fee of $10 per participant.

The URI Literacy Awareness Alternative Spring Break Program is getting ready to take its first service trip to Washington, D.C. this March.

The 10 student participants and three staff members will be staying right in the heart of D.C. in modest dorm-like accommodations and performing literacy-related service in the city.

The students will also be visiting Rhode Island legislators on Capitol Hill to discuss literacy in the Ocean State.

In addition, these students will meet with several community agencies focused on literacy, children and youth, like the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children & Youth and First Focus, Jumpstart and First Book.

URI and the Feinstein Center for Service Learning are very proud to be the home of Jumpstart URI and First Book URI.

Jumpstart is an organization dedicated to working toward the day all children will enter school prepared to succeed by pairing college students with under-privileged children at local area preschools.

Twice a week, the college students work one-on-one with their partner children and incorporate various language activities including reading, writing and story telling in order to expand the minds of their partner children.

Another program, First Book, is a national nonprofit organization that is hoping to increase literacy and a love for reading by providing children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.

If you are interested in forming a team for the spelling bee, please contact Courtney via e-mail at Cokeefe1989@mail.uri.edu, or you can visit the Clearinghouse for Volunteers in Roosevelt Hall room 125. Volunteers can also come to the information meeting Feb. 18 in Memorial Union room 314 at 7 p.m.

But remember, all teams must be registered by Feb. 20.

Everyone is invited to participate: - students, staff, administrators or community members.

It's free to watch, so show up to support if you're not interested in participating.