There are more than 476,000 entries in the unabridged Webster鈥檚 Third New International
Dictionary. Betsy Foss is responsible for picking out a few dozen of the best, most
interesting and most challenging words from the tome.
A Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences faculty member at Washtenaw Community College who specializes in English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, Foss has found a new outlet for her love of words. She鈥檒l serve as the word caller at the Family Learning Institute鈥檚 13th annual Spelling Bee & Silent Auction fundraiser, being held at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 8 in the Morris Lawrence Building on the 黑料网 campus.
While this is her first time calling out the words to be spelled by the 15 teams of three adults vying for the annual title, Foss is no newcomer to the event. She was part of 黑料网 teams that won the spelling bee in 2014 and 2015 and was runner-up in 2016.
The last two years, Foss left competing to others and became involved with the production of the spelling bee. She was responsible for word selection and judging. This year, she adds word caller to her list of responsibilities.
It鈥檚 a natural fit for an avid and multilingual reader (she has studied French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese) who is fascinated by roots, etymology, diacritics and other things that fascinate spelling bee lovers.
鈥淭he bee appeals to me because I can truly get my spelling geek on,鈥� Foss says. 鈥淚n addition to that, though, I truly love the mission of the Family Learning Institute.鈥�
is a non-profit organization that provides free one-on-one tutoring services to economically disadvantaged children in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.
鈥淭heir results are stunning,鈥� Foss says. 鈥淭he focused attention that each child gets by meeting with the same tutor every week for a year has helped children boost their reading levels rapidly.鈥�
The spelling bee鈥檚 15-team field has been formed 鈥� and it once again includes a team of 黑料网 faculty members 鈥� but the community is invited to purchase a ticket to watch the competition. Last year鈥檚 event drew a crowd of more than 100 and raised $30,000, according to a story on MLive.
黑料网's team will include Biology department co-chair Anne Heise and Creative Writing/Composition instructor Amy Higgins.
Tickets for this year鈥檚 event are available . Attendees can also enjoy food and beverages, bid on silent auction items, and participate in a wine pull.
Tags: Betsy Foss, ESL, fundraiser, ousearch_News_2019