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Community Corner

AEF Trivia Bee Builds Community

Schools' supporters come together for the sake of its students.

It was a motley crowd that assembled in at Sunday afternoon. But then that's well within the tradition of the community members who come to compete in the annual fundraising efforts of the Arlington Educational Foundation (AEF).

The mission of this non-profit organization is to enrich and expand the opportunities for learning by awarding proposed projects with the funding  necessary to bring the innovative programs into the schools.  

Master of ceremonies, the 10-year veteran of the post, resident Irwin Grossman was back due to popular demand. "It's a good idea to have fun as we fundraise," Grossman said. "The town gains from building a sense of community. Whatever our differences they get left at the door as everyone teams up for something we all agree on - supporting our students and teachers," he explained.

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AEF treasurer Rebecca Aaronson co-chaired the highly anticipated event with vice-president Jane Biondi.

"We are so thankful for our sponsors," Biondi acknowledged. This year's Platinum Sponsors are Belmont Pediatric Dentistry, Belmont Orthodontics, Brookline Bank and Zip Wall.

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President Rebecca Steinitz welcomed the learned teams who came out of their not so trivial sense of commitment, the esteemed judges, the volunteers who sold bee-shaped cookies among other things, and the family and friends in attendence.   

Steve Smith, past president of the Arlington Childrens' Theatre was at the piano providing the right music for such an event. Judges Superintendent Kathleen Bodie and Carol Band wore some impressive homemade metalic headgear while colleague Steve McHugh donned a black robe and orange wig to play his part. 

If questions such as "What is the greatest negative number?" leave you blank, thank the pool of question makers for not letting any of the responding teams run away with the coveted trophy. They are questioned in music, literature, science, design and more.

The Friends of the Fox Library, with teammates Michael Jackson, Susan Elmore and David Wright, took first place winning for themselves certificates to the Book Rack. As the champion team they designated theas the recepient of the $50 book donation offered by AEF. The Bee Trophy will remain at the library until next year's Bee.

According to the AEF website, the organization has raised a million dollars in the last 20 years through the efforts of previous organizations that merged with AEF in 2010. Their Bridge the Gap campaign raised more than $600,000 to save positions and programs that otherwise would have been lost due to last year's budget cuts.

As a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) charity donations are tax deductible and eligible for matching funds from participating corporations.

For more information visit info@arlingtoneducationfoundation.ma.org or call 781-646-4124 or write to AEF, P.O. Box 80, Arlington MA  02476.

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