Celebrity Spelling Bee raises $209,000 for Schoolhouse Supplies

Portland, February 3rd. Pat Janowski jumped for joy as she claimed the title of Portland’s celebrity champion speller. The OnPoint Community Credit Union Celebrity Spelling Bee raised money for Schoolhouse Supplies, the Portland non-profit which supports public education by giving students and teachers free classroom supplies. (Photo Credit Joni Shimabukuro)

A crowd of 380 guests gathered to watch Nolan Smith, John Erickson, Dave Dahl, and other Portland celebrities compete in a traditional spelling bee.

After five rounds of challenging words such as ‘monotonous’ and ‘dichotomy,’ Pat Janowski, actor, former Live Wire! Radio performer, and 2010 Celebrity Spelling Bee winner reclaimed her title. She out-spelled Candace Bouchard, soloist with the Oregon Ballet Theatre, with the winning word ‘philately.’

 

From Schoolhouse Supplies:

Schoolhouse Supplies was founded in 1999 as a way to support students and teachers throughout Portland Public Schools.  We operate Oregon’s first and only volunteer-run Free Store to provide teachers with the classroom supplies  needed to encourage the learning process for all students. Today, we are a nationally recognized leader in the Free Store movement, which creates direct links between students and members of the community.