Here is my tale of woe...and I'd like your opinions.

My daughter is in the 8th grade. This was her last year to compete for a chance to go to the National Spelling Bee. She is an avid speller and works for this all year....

So,

Step one-she won her classroom bee and qualified for the school bee.

Step two-this is where it gets nasty-she is at the school bee. It is down to three spellers. Nicole gets the word staid and/or stayed. I say this because the principal neglected to clarify that it is a homonym. Here's where it gets sticky. She spelled stayed when the principal was pronouncing staid. Anyway she told her she was disqualified. She appealed the decision because, and this is from the rules...If a word has one or more homonyms the pronouncer shall indicate which word is to be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified,either by defining it or distinguishing the homonyms, any correct spelling of any homonym shall be accepted. The principal said, "too bad, now go back to class".

My daughter told me of this and I sent a polite email questioning the ruling and asking what could be done to remedy it. The return email stated that "while she felt just horrible for Nicole, she hadn't read the rule because it wasn't given to her" so in effect she "amended the rule by default" Too bad for my daughter, and plus,"It wouldn't be fair to the other boy who won, I'm not going to do that to him." ...and yet it's fair to my daughter???? So, I sent another email to the principal telling her what I thought about the talk of feelings and that my daughter was disqualified basically for knowing the rules. I also told her that the only fair remedy was to go back to where my daughter did not misspell the word and continue the bee from there. I added that I was a bit upset when I learned that she actually told my daughter she wasn't going to do anything about it because it wasn't fair to the other child. Grrrrrrrrrr...I ended by saying I was going to question this to the local bee sponsor (our paper) and the national spelling bee organizers and rule writers. I did all this with my daughter's blessing. She is distraught as this was her last chance. She was there once and has been competing for it since. To have it end on this note is sickening. I really feel we have a case here. She hasn't returned my email.

Anyway, how far should I take this? My main anger is over the disregard of how my daughter would take an obvious mistake, and the fact that the principal won't own up to the mistake and make it right. Any input welcome. Thanks,Laura

What the heck, anyway. You only live once. You might as well do what you think you can do. You don't want to regret not doing something more later.

Why not have both advance?

:hi:

appeal to the newspaper's bee board (?). That ought to get them buzzing.

(go ahead, hit me, I deserve it.)

But seriously, Laura: DO NOT sit on it. In fact I'd go one more step: Write to the National Spelling Bee. http://www.spellingbee.com/about.shtml

Good luck & keep us posted.

If need be, I plan on contacting the National Bee. Thanks so much for your input.

kids the importance of respecting rules, which she did, and the leaders at the school didn't even bother to read the rules prior to the spelling bee. THAT is not your daughters fault and she should not be "punished" for it. It is something worth fighting for, especially if it will make your daughter feel better.

Keep us posted.

Edit: the more I think about it, the more it ticks me off. Ignorance of the law (in this case rule) is no excuse, right?

don't stop until you get a more justified answer.

:hi:

it has been placed upon my daughter, while the principal walks about taking no blame. :hi:

Stick to your guns. Your daughter was right. And so are you.

Wish us luck. I feel better about it now. :hi:

are supposed to follow all the rules. You really should pursue it. The school ought to have another match-up with the same three finalists.

Going to the National Spelling Bee is a huge big deal, and in fact the rules were changed several years ago as to how early the local bees could be held to chose the kid who would go to DC, because some places were holding theirs immediately after the National Bee and coaching the kid for a full year.

Keep on pursuing this, although be totally polite the entire way. A rematch would be appropriate.

I am finding the politeness factor to be very hard. But, I'm trying. Thanks so much for your response. :hi:

Do the right thing. If your daughter is still unfairly excluded, you will know you did everything possibly to rectify the problem. It's the best you can do.

best but not be labeled "pushy mom" :hi:

and make sure everyone you send a e-mail and a snail mail to knows you have sent copies to everyone involved. my wife has done this and it really effective in getting things done. always send a snail mail!!! as well as an e-mail

principal onto a CD. She made some conflicting statements.

That sometimes in life we must push and strive for justice no matter how
inconvenient or bothersome....even if it's for ourselves. :)

me to. Even though it would have killed me to sit on my hands I'll admit. :hi:

You kind of make it sound like she spelled "stayed" while the principal was still pronouncing "staid". If she did not give him a chance to indicate which word was to be spelled, then I think your case is weak. If she gave him an adequate chance and he did not do so, then your case is good.

But before pursuing it, you have to balance what she might win against what she might lose. How far do you think your daughter can go in the nationals? If you pursue it, will it turn into a big deal for her at school? Getting hassled every day at school is a large price to pay for maybe getting to the next level or two.

Life is about playing by the rules and making others do so. But it is also about making tradeoffs and weighing costs and benefits. All of these are important lessons.

I don't know much about spelling bees but I seem to remember contestants asking "Could you use it in a sentence" all the time.

by the rules to state if it is a homonym. At that point Nicole would have asked for it's use in a sentence. The teacher who neglected to give the page with that rule on it advocated for her to no avail. She placed pretty good in the Nationals on her first spin, for a 6th grader. Her classmates are pretty much agreed that it was a raw deal. Even the boy who won, although-in fairness- who knows how he would feel if she gets her way. She is well liked and it it pretty much common knowledge that spelling is her life. What a word to spell out on. :( I don't think there would be much hassle, it's an extremely small school.

Thanks so much for your insight. It means a lot.

:hi:

Did she jump in before he had a chance to say (read) that it was a homonym? You use the word "when". In this context it could mean "when he was still reading/speaking or still intended to do so" or "when he was done reading the word and whatever else he was going (not supposed) to do/say (which in this case would be nothing else)". I am sure that you mean the latter. I am just pointing out that the former is a reasonable defense for the principal and could be considered your daughter's mistake. With such an easy word (in either case), a natural assumption could be that she was overeager. (Which I am sure that she was not.)

I don't mean to nitpick but it is important. In any case if there are zero consequences then by all means go ahead. It sounds like it means a lot to her.

Shouldn't the fact that a word has a homonym have been on the same piece of paper that he was reading from --- like right next to the word itself? (Maybe with a definition or used in a sentence.) If it was not, this is the real error and a face saving way out for everybody.

Probably he just screwed up, and transformed a simple question into a trick one.

They would probably have to officially retest at least the "winner" and your daughter. You should probably move quickly or this may not be possible in time for moving on.

a homonym. My daughter repeats the word back before she begins to spell which should have given the principal ample time to clarify that it was a homonym. The interesting thing is that the principal sent me one email claiming she had given the definition and then sent another saying how "terrible she felt".

eom

Would shut down that defense.

Better move as soon as possible.

over-involved moms can be verrrry embarassing for an 8th grader

I read the Principal's newsletter and got it from there. At which point she burst into tears. I tend to be fairly quiet on the whole spelling bee thing, as she thinks I would jinx her. ;)

... they announced the word, used it in a sentence and said it one more time. If there were any questions as to pronunciation or use, one could ask for clarification or another sentence.

Sponsor Bee rules is pronounce the word and clarify whether it is a homonym or mirror homonym. The rest of the burden falls to the speller. They are allowed to ask for a sentence, definition, if the root is latin,greek etc.

The further it goes, the less comfortable for the other child, too. A good principal would mediate, so the other child would have a chance to win the bee fair and square. She/he can accept the responsibility and offer solutions, as well as apologies.

Not mediating this is going to be bad for all involved. I hope you get a positive reply. Hopefully, the principal is checking her options, doing her homework and will get back to you with a positive response. I'm sure there are rules that must also be followed when something like this occurs.

The futher this goes, the worse it will be for everyone.

Good luck - I have a fourteen year-old and I know how I feel her pain when life is unjust. She knows I will always go to bat for her.

well. Ironically, when Nicole won the state bee the first time around it was to a boy who mispelled a word that was a homonym (identified by the pronouncer). Haunted by homonyms I guess. The boy who won in the school is a great kid. I don't want his feelings hurt either, I just feel there is a better way. Thanks again, that meant a lot. :hi:

That's an injustice.

I think that, even if your daughter ever wants you to quit - I don't know, might be worth continuing to go for it, to teach your daughter that we sometimes have to do things we don't like for the sake of justice and right.

Yeah, it's just a spelling bee. But for an 8th grader, this is the same as being denied a promotion to the executive level because of some bullshit reason.

Did Rosa Parks say, "Nah, it's easier to just sit at the back."?

Good lessons here all around, and I applaud you for questioning the decision and keeping on going.

my mind and strengthened my resolve. Your analogy was just what I needed to hear. Thanks so much. :hi:

by far.

:(

when it was so obvious what could be done to make this better.

Dropping the issue also gives the wrong kind of feedback to the principle -- who would now feel more empowered to abuse the rules.

There are 3 people would would benefit from a remediation:

1) Your daughter
2) The other spelling bee "winner"
3) The principle

....like the Supreme Court ruling for loser Bush because he might be harmed if they ruled for winner Gore. The principle is the same. So seek justice.

I am feeling much better about it now after gaining some insight here.

:hi: Thanks

I appreciate that very much. :hi:

If the rules state one thing and the principle follows another the it should continue until their is a clear winner. After all, how many words have sound-alike versions?

(And yes, I was spelling them wrong on purpose.)

she has one on, when the other boy misspelled it. Because he didn't clarify the definition of the homonym. Thanks so much for you're input.

(I figured I'd misspell for fun too ;) )

This was at the county level, too. Take it as far as you can. My parents have stated that they truly regret not pursuing it further.

The pronouncer mispronounced the word, I spelled it wrong, and the rest is, alas, NOT history.

Kick some butt, Laura--we're on your side!

announcer are irritating.