Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Good spelling, bad judging

An eighth-grader was ejected from a spelling bee -- after spelling her word, "discernible," correctly. She finished in third place.

Her parents -- trying to be respectful, they said -- waited until the bee was over to double-check the spelling in a dictionary and alert the judges. But by then it was too late. The rules stipulate that the judges' decision must be challenged immediately.

I'm with the mom, Cindy Beckman, here: "Spellers and academic children don't get all the accolades that the sports kids do. This is one of their few chances to shine, to get attention -- and look what happens."

But I'll have to part ways with her here: "I'll take this to the U.S. Supreme Court. I will take this to the international court of law to fight for my baby's rights."

2 Comments:

At 7:45 PM, February 08, 2006, Blogger Bill said...

This issue sounds like a real hot potatoe.

 
At 1:14 AM, February 09, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Spelling bees are torture chambers designed especially for nervous preteens disguised as worthwhile intellectual achievement. So the parent who opted out (not mentioned) is actually right here.

And no, I'm not kidding.

 

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