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03/08/2017 07:30 AMTo Kathy Rocklin, giving back to the community of North Haven is very important. Kathy has been a board member of the North Haven Education Foundation (NHEF), a non-profit organization started in 2004, for about seven years and is now chairperson for the organization’s third annual Adult Spelling Bee.
Being involved in education is nothing new for Kathy. Her interest in education goes back to high school, when she volunteered for the Headstart program and worked with pre-school children. After getting her undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, she earned her master’s degree in urban education from Simmons College in Boston. Upon receiving the degree, she taught 6th graders in Boston’s Columbia Point area.
“It was just one foot after the other,” she says of her journey.
Kathy has three sons, all of whom went through North Haven public schools. For a time, she was a substitute teacher at Ridge Road Elementary School (she’s now a full-time realtor at Calcagni Real Estate in Wallingford).
“I think the North Haven school system is one of the best in the state,” she says.
She had been a member of the North Haven Board of Education for 20 years, and was a part of the North Haven High School Building Committee when that project was ongoing. She has been a substitute teacher and PTA member, and has even received the Community Star Award in North Haven, recognizing her contributions to the community.
The Spelling Bee will take place Thursday, April 27 at the North Haven High School. Doors open at 6 p.m., and while admission is free, a $5 donation is suggested.
Registration is open to North Haven residents ages 16 and up, and participants register in teams of three people. Kathy says she expects to have around 35 teams this year. Teams are charged a fee to register, but teams can also be sponsored by local businesses to cover the cost.
Kathy has already signed up several local businesses, including Arnold’s Jewelers, Carol’s Creations, Everyday Gourmet, and Mauro Motors.
“One of the goals we set is to increase community involvement and support for the school system,” she says. Winning the spelling bee isn’t the only prize, as there are also special prizes for Most Team Spirit, Best Costume, and Best Team Name.
One of the most enjoyable parts for Kathy is seeing the teams form and the creativity the members put into it. The North Haven Firefighters’ team, which won the event last year, is named Bee Extinguished. First Selectman Michael Freda has a team called Town of North Hive-n.
High school students have teams, and faculty members from all schools in North Haven have teams as well. She also enjoys how teams dress up for the event.
“We had a team called ‘The Spellcasters,’ and they dressed like Harry Potter characters,” she says.
Kathy says she started the planning process this past August, with one of the most important parts being to lock in sponsors for the event. The gold title sponsor last year was Quinnipiac University, which donated $5,000, and did the same for this year’s event. North Haven residents Stearns and Ruth Bryant are the silver sponsor, and billboard advertising company Independent Outdoor is the bronze sponsor.
NHEF’s mission statement says the foundation encourages and supports academic excellence by providing funds for projects or initiatives that enhance or extend learning opportunities for students and the community beyond the conventional resources of the school system. All board members are volunteers and North Haven residents.
To support this mission, the majority of the money raised from this event will go into North Haven schools in the form of grant money. The money has been used for many improvements and activities, such as a West Point field trip for the Middle School boys’ basketball team and purchasing culinary arts equipment for the High School.
“It gets teachers excited and enthused because it gets them thinking what they can do above and beyond what the budget allows them to,” Kathy says.
The spelling bee raised $7,000 the first year, $17,000 in the second year, and Kathy expects to raise over $20,000 this year. She also expects to have roughly 450 attendees for the event this year.
Kathy would like to thank not only the rest of the Education Foundation, but especially her fellow members of the spelling bee committee, who handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes work.
“I couldn’t be able to function without them; they’re fabulous,” she says of her fellow committee members.
For more information about the third annual North Haven Education Foundation Adult Spelling Bee, contact Kathy Rocklin at eve.rocklin@gmail.com or 203-314-5326.