THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE 28th ANNUAL TRIVIA BEE and CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2024 BEE WINNERS!
Congratulations to the 2024 LEF Trivia Bee Winning Team “LHS Alum-hive”
Evan Bouwens, Rory Fox and Lauren Wu
Teams of three signed up to participate in the annual LEF Trivia Bee - a fun evening that brings the Lexington community together for a friendly battle of wits while raising funds to enhance educational excellence in Lexington Public Schools.
What is the Trivia Bee?
The Trivia Bee is a unique LEF tradition – a fun evening that brings the Lexington community together for a friendly battle of wits while raising funds to enhance educational excellence in the Lexington Public Schools through educator initiated grants.
Three member teams of teachers, students, town employees, and citizens come decked out and ready to compete in this trivia contest, while hundreds of Lexingtonians cheer them on. Bring a friend, bring your family, and bring your trivial best!
Teams compete in rounds (or swarms), with the winners of the swarms battling it out in the final round. All answers are supplied by the team, so no one person is ever put on the spot. Trivia questions are in the following categories: history, sports, popular culture, science, arts/literature and current events.
Join us at the Bee, whether as a team member, team sponsor, audience member, or volunteer.
Congratulations to the Lexington Education Foundation’s 27th Annual Trivia Bee Champion Team “BEEm Us Up” -Whitney Factor, Wendy Moy and Kenny Dautrich
Click here to watch Lexington Education Foundation’s Trivia Bee recorded by LexMedia.
A Recap of the 2023 Trivia Bee held on January 19, 2023.
The evening began in Lexington High School’s cafeteria, where twenty-three teams gathered and enjoyed Nick’s Pizza. Local photographer, Wendy Carlton, took photos of the three member teams using bee themed props. LEF’s Immediate Past President, Raquel Leder, served as the interviewer for LexMedia and she interviewed host Jeff Leonard, the judges Lance Conrad, Farzana Khatri and Alissa Lauzon, LEF board members and Co-Chairs, Keri Caron and Sarah Carter.
The audience was entertained by the super talented returning host Jeff Leonard. The Questions Committee (Farzana Khatri, Tom Diaz, Alissa Lauzon, Rich Jensen and Sarah Jensen) did an amazing job creating a list of challenging questions about Arts, Science, History, Geography and Sports.
The winners of each of the swarms, Hive School Quiz Show, Bee An Engineer, Harrington Give Bees a Chance and BEEm Us Up, along with wild card winner, Symphony in Bee competed in the Final Swarm. The last two teams battling were Harrington Give Bees a Chance and BEEm Us Up. The determining question that sealed the fate of the Diamond teacher team was: This NASA funded mission launched in November 2022 and marked America’s return to the Moon. BEEm Us Up correctly wrote “Artemis 1” on their white board and they were declared the winner of LEF’s 27th Annual Trivia Bee.
A final interview was conducted with the winning Diamond teacher team by Raquel Leder and LEF Co-President Carolyn Coppe-Peacock.
Thank you to our Trivia Bee Committee, LexMedia, Laurie Lucibello, Carlton Ward, LPS custodians and High School volunteers for a successful evening. We truly appreciate everyone’s help with this community building event!
Thank you to our corporate sponsors including Beth Sager Group, Chase Plumbing Co., Inc., Coppe and Sears Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, JW Construction Inc., Lester E. Savage of Berkshire Hathaway, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Sonja Selami, Law Offices P.C. for your support in hosting this event. We would also like to thank the Lexington Public Schools’ PTO and PTA organizations, CAAL, LexFUN!, LexSEPTA/LexSEPAC, Lexington Symphony, as well as friends and families of LEF for your financial support.
Congratulations to the 2021 Lexington Education Foundation’s annual Trivia Bee winners - "To Bee Determined" - Kevin Colburn, Eric Pearlman and Jeff Rago!
A Recap of 2021 Trivia Bee
We are so excited to be back in person after 2 challenging years. Get ready to be entertained with funny moments, music and wit. Your energy, enthusiasm, and cheering make this event a special moment to celebrate education.
Thank you to Jeff Leonard, our amazing Master of Ceremonies, who makes tonight engaging, fun, and musical. We are very excited to have 4 Lexington community members as our amazing question creators (Farzana Khatri, David Lee, Alissa Lauzon, and Sarah Jensen) and judges (Farzana Khatri, David Lee, Alessandro Alessandrini, and honorary judge Wendy Manz).
We are also grateful to all the students who helped out tonight. Thank you to our amazing photographer, Wendy Carlton, for her awesome photos tonight. Thank you to Lexmedia for broadcasting the Trivia Bee live for those who couldn’t be in person at LHS but wouldn’t want to miss an LEF Trivia Bee. And a huge special thanks to Sarah Carter and Nicole Coelho, our VPs of Trivia Bee and Queen Bees Extraordinaires!
None of this would be possible without the generous support from YOU! Thank you to all the community members and businesses who sponsor a team, donate items, and/or donate their time to LEF. Your support tonight helps us award over $250,000 in grants every year to teachers and staff in all 10 Lexington Public Schools. (See example of Rapid Response Grants awarded in 2020-2021).
The 2021 Trivia Bee team
Bee Committee - Sarah Carter (Co-Chair), Nicole Coelho (Co-Chair), Raquel Leder, Audra Myerberg, Amy Ryan
Questions Committee - Sarah Jensen, Farzana Khatri, David Lee, Alissa Lauzon
Video Coverage by LexMedia
Camera: Terry Samaras, David Ilsley
Set Design: Heather Aveson, Florence Del Santo and Julie Manoogian
Photography - Wendy Carlton
Winners’ Prizes - gift cards to:
il Casale Restaurant
Wegmans
Frank Pepe Pizzeria
Participants’ Gifts - Jars of Crystal’s Honey
LEF Staff Support - Kathleen Sayles
Thank You, LEF Student Ambassadors!
Special thanks to John Diperna at LHS, Laurie Lucibello at Department of Public Facilities, LexMedia
2019 Masters of Trivia
CONGRATULATIONS TO 2019 TRIVIA BEE WINNERS !
2019 Masters of Trivia - The Team Ain't Mis-Bee-Hivin' from Fiske and sponsored by Fiske PTO
Master of Ceremonies - Jeff Leonard
Guest Judge - Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett
Pictures from Trivia Bee 2019 »
View the LIVE 2019 LEF Trivia Bee recording - Made possible by LexMedia
Congratulations to 2018 Trivia Bee Winners !
2018 Masters of Trivia - Bee the Ball, Danny - a group of parents from Bowman
Click on the picture gallery for 2018 Trivia Bee pictures. Photo courtesy Lin Tong.
Lexington Education Foundation's 23rd Annual Trivia Bee was Sweet! Families, educators, volunteers and students nearly packed the LHS auditorium Monday night, Nov. 5, to cheer on their favorite teams. 43 teams of 3, including educators from each Lexington school, local organizations and businesses, competed in this entertaining battle of wits. Teams were divided into six "swarms" and the swarm winners, plus one randomly chosen team (this year the team drawn was "Let It Bee" from the Chinese American Association of Lexington) advanced to the final round. Community member and retired Lexington Public Schools' Coordinator of Performing Arts, Jeff Leonard, was Master of Ceremonies asking and in some cases playing his instrument to pose questions such as, "Harare is the capitol of which African country?" - Answer: Zimbabwe. Alyssa Lauzon, Head of Youth Services at Cary Library, was the timekeeper and the guest judge was Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Julie Hackett.
Audience members waved Bee fans, played bee trivia with LEF's own STAR Man, Lance Conrad, and voted "Estabees" as the favorite team name. In the final round the team "Bee the Ball, Danny" won the 2018 Masters of Trivia title! Self-sponsored team members Joel Moore, Steve Reilly, and Dost Ongur were thrilled to win this year having competed in several past LEF Trivia Bee events. One team member noted "We've been working to win this for years!" The winners wished to have the trophy displayed at Bowman School. The trophy spent last school year at Clarke Middle School after the team "Colony Collapse Disorder," consisting of three Clarke teachers, won the Masters of Trivia title in 2017.
LEF is grateful to the Trivia Bee co-chairs Rebecca Smerling and Julie Lippert plus all of the sweet volunteers including board members, LEF student ambassadors, and community members who worked together to bring this event to the community. Special thanks to LHS custodians, John Diperna, Bruce Ryder at the LPS print shop, photographer Lin Tong, and LexMedia.
This event is made possible by the generous contribution of donors who sponsored teams and provided donations: Abbott’s Frozen Custard, The Wellington Neighborhood Eatery, il Casale Lexington, Boston Harbor Now, MIT Lincoln Laboratories, Capstone Mortgage, Janovitz + Tse Real Estate Group, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Lester Savage Century 21, Evans Griffiths & Hart, One2One BodyScapes, Pinot's Palette, Lexington Dental Associates, Coppe+Sears Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, Beth Sager Realty, Finnegan Development, Russian School of Mathematics, Bowman Elementary School PTA, Bridge PTA, Chinese American Association of Lexington, Estabrook PTO, Fiske PTO, Harrington PTA, Clarke PTO, Lexington High School PTO, Lexington Interfaith Clergy Association, LexFUN!, Hastings PTA, Diamond PTA, Conrad Family, Tom Griffiths, Jacotin Family, Leader Family, Moore Öngür and Reilly Families, Murnaghan Family, Orf Family, Pearlman Colburn and Rago Families, Raymond Apgar and Osber Families, Walsh Minihane and Gazourian Families, Tracey Wright, Brian Bernstein, Mike & Crystal Kjelsberg, Bob & Jennifer Ryan, Caitlin Ahern, Chris Lyons, Maureen Kavanaugh, Alessandro Alessandrini, Kathryn Colburn, Eileen Jay, Kathleen Lenihan, Deepika Sawhney.
Video Highlights - 2017 Trivia Bee
Video Highlights - 2017 Trivia Bee
Congratulations to the 2017 Masters of Trivia!
2017 Masters of Trivia - Colony Collapse Disorder from Clarke Middle School
Click on the picture gallery for 2018 Trivia Bee pictures. Photo courtesy Andras Cser.
LEF’s 22nd TRIVIA BEE competition, a friendly battle of wits which has become a popular town tradition, was held at the Lexington High School on Thursday, Nov 9th and is being called the best TRIVIA BEE to date. 42 teams participated in the competition in front of a packed auditorium. The energy level this year was unprecedented. The introduction of the yellow paddle cards which the audience raised and waved in support of their teams was a hit. So was the interactive audience questions in between swarms.
Like every year, the Lexington schools were well represented by students as well as faculty and were joined by teams from the School Committee, LexFun and others. Local businesses generously sponsored several teams and were recognized for their support.
Event Chair Caroline Yang and Co-Chair Yumio Saneyoshi opened the event to a cheering house, followed by LEF Presidents Karen Orf and Kimberly McCormick who shared excitement about projects LEF has funded. Jeff Leonard was the master of ceremonies and once again wowed the audience with his live music performance for each musical question.
The competition was fierce, as demonstrated by the need for several tie-breaker questions in multiple swarms. The final tie-breaker round went to Colony Collapse Disorder from Clarke Middle School. The final question was: Who was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo the 3 rd in year 800?
A new trophy was introduced this year which the winning team displays for a year. The People’s Choice for the most creative team name went to the team “Bridge Bad Boys”.