The Wellesley Education Foundation is gearing up to celebrate its 27th annual Spelling Bee on Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sprague School gym.

Sign-ups are open for all teams of three here. The $500 entry fee per team goes to support excellence and innovation in the Wellesley public schools through enrichment programs, to the tune of $54,000 last year. Some of the programs WEF has helped fund include specialized training for educators to promote student social/emotional health through the “Challenge Success” program; over $55K in grants to help develop the new K-5 World Language curriculum; a new piano for the Middle School choral program, benefitting 400 Middle School students; a new WHS course — “Building Androids Apps” — made possible by outfitting classrooms with Android tablets

In addition, WEF is still seeking sponsors to enable the participation of teams from the middle and high school and local non-profit organizations. All sponsorships committed by October 25 will be recognized in the program brochure. Sponsorships and donations of any amount are welcome and tax deductible. To donate, visit www.wellesleyeducationfoundation.org, or mail a check payable to WEF, to: WEF Spelling Bee, P.O. Box 812321, Wellesley, MA, 02482.

Last year Health Advances, a company that apparently operates at the intersection of science, technology, and business strategy, came the heck out of nowhere (well, Weston) to win the big trophy and year-long bragging rights. The team’s winning word: threnody. Definition: a song, hymn, or poem of mourning composed as a memorial to a dead person. But you already knew that.