Winners of the 2011 Housing Authority Spelling Bee with (from left, back row): HACM Commissioner Sherri Daniels; radio personality Earl Ingram; HACM Education Specialist Darrell Finch; HACM Senior Asset Manager Beverly Johnson; and Milwaukee Urban League President & CEO Ralph Hollmon.
With the theme “Bee All You Can Bee,” the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) hosted its 11th Annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, October 27th at the Hillside Family Resource Center. Fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders competed to demonstrate their spelling abilities, win prizes and claim the 1st place title.
The youth prepared for the competition for weeks through the programs of HACM and its partners, including the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center and the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club.
Radio personality Earl Ingram served as pronouncer and the judges were Milwaukee Urban League President & CEO Ralph Hollmon, HACM Commissioner Sherri Daniels, and HACM Senior Asset Manager Beverly Johnson.
The event was organized by HACM Education Specialist Darrell Finch.
Winners were: 5th grade – Darlene Twitty (1st), Lowese Riggins (2nd) and Pele Salinas (3rd); 6th grade – Bandun Robinson (1st), Luis Candelaria (2nd) and Dahlon Hall (3rd); 7th grade – Jessica Anderson (1st), Lynia Anderson (2nd) and Demonta Leflore (3rd); and 8th grade – Abena May (1st) and Robert Anderson (2nd).
The Spelling Bee is an annual event of HACM’s Education Initiative, which seeks to keep kids in school and help them increase their achievement. Since 2005, no participant in the program has dropped out of school and the graduation rate has increased.