Thank you so much for joining us at CYD’s 6th Annual Spelling Bee for Grownups!

Thank you for being part of CYD’s Spelling Bee on Tuesday night! It was a wonderful evening of community and fun, along with a lighthearted competition that brought our guests back to their own school days. At Comprehensive Youth Development our goal is to amplify the voices of our young people and raise awareness of how to support them. Executive Director Michael Roberts hosted a student and alumni panel featuring representatives of our three partner schools and the CYD Career Academy sharing their stories. We are grateful to you for partnering in this work.

This year, we had two incredible Bee Masters, Andrea Joyce of NBC Sports Group and her husband, journalist Harry Smith, most recently of NBC News and MSNBC, who brought expertise and humor to the event. The adult Bee was a close competition, but The Spellcasters won with “kookaburra,” and the Thirsty Vipers and Too Buzzed brought home the second and third place trophies. Board Member Katie Karoll Lavino was chosen as Most Creative Speller. The young people excelled in the Student Bee, and first place honors went to Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School. Congratulations to all the adults and students who played and made the competition so enjoyable!

First Place: The NYC Writers Collective Spellcasters

Second Place: The HPHS faculty team The Thirsty Vipers

Third Place: Too Buzzed to Spell sponsored by the Lavino Family

First Place: Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School
Second Place: The High School for Health Professions and Human Services
Third Place: City-As-School High School

Your dollars make a difference