Read To Succeed is proud to announce the 7th annual Celebrity Spelling Bee on November 12th at The World Outreach Church.

The event will open up with a silent auction at 5:30pm. Items include a $400 gift card to Bud’s Tire, Dollywood passes, photography sessions, legal services, artwork,and much more. Then at 6:00 dinner will be provided by Peter D’s, a new local restaurant by Peter Demos. Finally the Bee will take place at 7:00pm. Tickets are $50 per person.

So far, RTS has raised $42,000 towards its $70,000 goal.  “The Celebrity Bee is Read To Succeed’s primary fundraising opportunity for the year,” says Shawn McFarland, Read To Succeed Board Member and 2013 Speller. “With these funds, we can truly change someone’s life by giving the best tool one can have: the ability to read.  Our sponsors recognize that RTS is making a difference in the lives of Rutherford County citizens and for that we are extremely grateful.”  Levels of giving range from $500 to $5000 in donations.

• Current sponsors are as follows: Platinum Level ($5000) Sponsors are Ingram Content Group; Kious, Rodgers, Barger, Holder, and Kious PLLC; and Nissan North America.
  
  
   
• Gold Level ($2,500) Sponsors are Bridgestone America’s Trusts Fund, Jennings & Rebecca Jones Foundation, Palm International, and Adams-Coggin Foundation.

Silver Level ($1,500) Sponsors are Adam’s Family Foundation and Colonial Pipeline. Mark Sharp of Nissan North America, a Platinum Sponsor, stated, “Nissan has been a part of the Rutherford County community for over 30 years, and knows Literacy Matters.  Literacy is the key to opening the door to a good education, and a good education is the start of numerous opportunities:  to obtain a good job, to build a better community, to lowering crime, to personal and professional growth, and I could go on and on. Nissan supports Read To Succeed because we believe in its mission and know the importance of literacy to our business, our community, and our future."

Celebrity Spellers are preparing for the upcoming event. The Read To Succeed slogan historically has been, “If a local celebrity is willing to risk public humiliation, literacy must be important”. But many spellers are not concerned with failure, they are here to win. Shelly Morton, Bridgestone LaVergne Plant, stated that her 12 year old son is quizzing her; Robin Newell, principal of Mitchell-Neilson Schools, is issuing a challenge to her students and faculty; and Shane and Shawn McFarland, McFarland Construction and Tennessee Valley Healthcare respectively, are battling for bragging rights as the smartest twin! The Celebrity Spelling Bee is a “fun” bee, but many participants take it very seriously.

Tickets Available Now:

Tickets to the Bee are $50 per person or $400 for a table of 8, and they can be purchased online at http://readtosucceed.org/celebritybee.htm or by mailing a check to Read To Succeed, PO Box 12161, Murfreesboro TN, 37129. Donations of any size are encouraged even if you cannot attend.

Contact Information: