Students Out Spell Their Elders in Linden Ponds Spelling Bee

It was old school versus new school at the Spelling Bee Monday afternoon to raise money for the

Student employees and volunteers competed against  their elders, the Linden Ponds residents and staff members.  The spelling bee was made up of nine teams of three participants, with some teams made up of high school student employees and volunteers and others made up of Linden Ponds staff members and residents.

Participants were asked to spell difficult words such as "gambol," "imbecile,"  and "katydid" and after multiple rounds, the spelling contest was down to two final teams: The Fireside’s First (made up of three student employees Jay Havey, Conor Wilson, Luke Maynard who work in the Linden Ponds restaurant as waiters) and the Litwits (made up if three Linden Ponds residents Jean Nagle, Anne Goulston, and Sylvia Agler).

At the end, the Fireside’s First out spelled their opponents and were crowned champions.

“It feels pretty good to beat some of these residents with a lot more experience,” Havey said with a smile.

Havey will graduate from Weymouth High School in June  and attend U Mass Amherst in the Fall while his teammates Wilson ( Weymouth High School) and Maynard (Hingham High School) are currently finishing their junior year of high school.

This week is Student Scholarship Week at Linden Ponds to raise money for student employees who plan to attend a college or accredited trade school beginning fall 2012. According to Linden Ponds Staff Development Manager Susan DeMello, there are 26 students eligible for the scholarship this year including four from and one student from

, Josh Geary,  Sarah Richmond, and are the HHS eligible recipients along with Chrissy Wojner  from NDA.

Eligible students need to have worked at Linden Ponds during their junior and senior year and put in 1,000 hours of work.  Those students will receive a total of $4,000 over four years of college.  The money will be dispersed directly to their schools in $500-per-semester increments, for a maximum of eight semesters or four years.

This week the Linden Ponds community will organize events to raise money for their scholarship fund including a  fashion show with residents and staff, and a game of Jeopardy. As of Tuesday, they have raised over $87,000.

 “Most of the events are free so we hope to raise money by donations, not ticket sales,” DeMello said in a statement.   “The students work hard to make this week come together and look forward to it every year.” 

Students receiving scholarships are:

Student Name

HIGH SCHOOL

Beswick, Dan

Weymouth High

Boyle, Alex

Archbishop Williams

Burns, Nina

Norwell High

Chiarelli, Thomas

Hanover High

Cole, Becca

Weymouth High

Conrad, Matthew

So. Shore Voc

Crosson, Dave

Weymouth High

Danis, Robert

Hingham High

DeRubeis, Emma

Weymouth High

Dirksmeier, Corey

Norfolk County Ag

Elliott, Cody

Braintree High

Finn, Mackenzie

Weymouth High

Geary, Josh

Hingham High

Havey, Jay

Weymouth High

Hutchinson, Amanda

Weymouth High

Lawless, Mark

Weymouth

Lawson, Mark

Hanover High

Macauley, Talia

Norwell High

Petrikas, Ryan

Weymouth High

Richmond, Sarah

Hingham High

Rinehart, Becky

Weymouth High

Ronaghan, Jennifer

Weymouth High

Urban, Montana

Weymouth High

Vardaro, Maria

Hingham High

White, Noelle

Weymouth High

Wojner, Chrissy

Notre Dame