The 5th annual “Celebrity Spelling Bee” supporting Tutoring Chicago took place at Park West March 7. Sponsored by Inspire11, the event raised funds for Tutoring Chicago, the largest one-to-one, after school tutoring program offering free long-term pairings of students and volunteers in the Chicago area.
While it certainly was a group of qualified competitors, in the end, Team IMC - Candace Jordan (Chicago Star Associate Publisher), Deanna Belos (lead singer Sincere Engineer) and Rushil Kassety (from sponsor IMC) - took home the top prize.
The stage is set at Park West before Tutoring Chicago's "Celebrity Spelling Bee." (Photo by Candace Jordan)
Other participants included Ryan Asher (emcee); Jeffrey Murdoch (emcee); Andy Bolduc (Second City, mainstage); Alisha Elena (private chef and Bravo Top Chef Season 21 contestant); Claire Favret (Second City); Jarrette Jones (Netflix’s “Love is Blind); JQ and GQ (The Q Brothers) (hip hop rap); Dionne Miller (ABC-7 sports); Sultan Salahuddin (producer HBO Max’s “South Side”); and Sherman “Dilla” Thomas (Chicago’s urban historian who served as a host).
Tutoring Chicago's "Celebrity Spelling Bee" winners: Rushil Kassety, Candace Jordan and Deanna Belos. (Photo by John Robak)
Tutoring Chicago was founded in 1965 as the “Cabrini Green Tutoring Program” by a group of Montgomery Ward employees. The organization has helped thousands of students in elementary school grow both personally and academically.
Dionne Miller (ABC-7) and Shermannn 'Dilla' Thomas (Chicago urban historian). (Photo | Candace Jordan)
(To learn more about how you can support Tutoring Chicago, click here.)
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