Join us this Saturday, May 3rd, at 2 p.m. for a Free Family Film, sponsored by the Towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, and Southport. Let's celebrate all our students' achievements as the school year comes to a close!

Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert.com:

"Akeelah Anderson can spell. She can spell better than anyone in her school in South Central Los Angeles, and she might have a chance at the nationals. 

The story of Akeelah’s ascent to the finals of the National Spelling Bee makes an uncommonly good movie, entertaining and actually inspirational, and with a few tears along the way. 

So far I imagine “Akeelah and the Bee” sounds like a nice but fairly conventional movie. What makes it transcend the material is the way she relates to the professor, and to two fellow contestants: a Mexican-American named Javier and an Asian American named Dylan. 

The sessions between Akeelah and the professor are crucial to the film, because he is teaching her not only strategy but how to be willing to win. No, he doesn’t use self-help cliches. He is demanding, uncompromising, and he tells her again and again: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” This quote, often attributed to Nelson Mandela, is actually from Marianne Williamson, but no less true for Akeelah (the movie does not attribute it).

In our winning-obsessed culture, it is inspiring to see a young woman like Akeelah Anderson instinctively understand, with empathy and generosity, that doing the right thing involves more than winning. That’s what makes the film particularly valuable for young audiences. I don’t care if they leave the theater wanting to spell better, but if they have learned from Akeelah, they will want to live better."