The two Assumption teams pose for a group photo. At right, Assumption Team #2 talks Scrabble strategy.

Centennial Scrabble Tournament Raises Funds for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester

April, 2004—As part of its Centennial celebration, Assumption College partnered with the Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester to host the second annual Team Scrabble Tournament on April 20, 2004, raising over $3,900 to benefit the operation of the nonprofit agency.

Fifteen teams entered the competition, representing several Worcester-area corporations and organizations. A team from UnumProvident took first place with a final combined score of 3,587. This was UnumProvident's second first-place finish in two years. Placing second was a team from Worcester Public Library, who scored a final number of 3,131. Assumption College's two teams, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, took third and fourth place respectively, with final scores of 3,050 and 3,016.

"The sponsorship from Assumption College made possible for much of the proceeds from the event to go directly to those in need of basic literacy and/or English as a Second Language instruction," said Allison Budds, director of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester.

The tournament was played using several unique rules, allowing teams to purchase additional letters to complete their words. Teams were also allowed to pay for peeks at dictionaries. Tile sales and dictionary peeks accounted for $730 of the total money raised.

Debbie Lynch, director of Assumption College's Reach Out Center, was extremely pleased with the event. "I'm glad that Assumption College can extend its 100th anniversary celebration beyond campus to the community," she says. "I was also pleased to see our team members, faculty, staff, and students, all coming together in a non-academic setting, getting to know each other better."

"The Scrabble Tournament was a resounding success!" said Budds. "This second year saw more and more corporate and community teams coming out to compete and support our organization in its efforts to build a more literate community".

Click here for more pictures of the Scrabble tournament, and here to see a slide show of the event.