| In the age of spell check, autocorrect and text-speak, some would say that spelling is becoming a dying art.
But for those who have not let their spelling skills slip into non-existence, a challenge awaited them at the 20th Annual Bee for Literacy, a corporate spelling bee that benefits the East Texas Literacy Council.
On June 8, sixteen local businesses from the Longview area battled to outwit and outspell their opponents. KSA Engineers, Inc. was one of those businesses, and representing the engineering firm were Les Shaw, P.E., Aleeda Barton, and Mary Lou Stuckey.
"I was proud to represent KSA, along with two great partners, for the spelling bee," Stuckey said. "The Literacy Council is an important outreach in our community so I feel that it is very important to support them."
A group of KSAers — dressed up in nerdy costumes complete with black bow ties and taped, oversized glasses— sat in the audience, cheering their team on each step of the way.
"We appreciated the support we received from fellow employees," Stuckey added. "They seemed to have a great deal of fun which is what it's all about."
The race to find the top speller was long and intense. While the first round saw words such as "neon" and "chase," the second and third rounds proved a bit more difficult, as participants began dropping from the race for words such as "pompeii" and "commissary."
The audience members were on the edge of their seats as the sixth and final round began: KSA and the defending champion, Rotary Club of Longview, took center stage. But in the end, Rotary won the event with the word, "demarche."
"We practiced, we spelled, we came in second place!" Barton said. "It was tense and nerve-racking at times, but it was lots of fun!"
About KSA
KSA Engineers, Inc. is an industry leader providing a broad range of consulting, management, engineering, planning, surveying, and construction services for more than 30 years. Founded in 1978, the firm has grown to over 150 employees located in seven offices and was named on the 2009 and 2010 ZweigWhite Hot Firm Lists, which recognizes the fastest growing architectural and engineering firms from the United States and Canada. In addition, KSA was recently named to the ENR Top 500, a listing of the largest design firms in the United States. www.ksaeng.com
For additional information
Contact Amanda Retallack
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903.236.7700 ext. 105 |
