A Ritual That Spells Pride

One of the sweetest h-a-r-b-i-n-g-e-r-s of summer every year is the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington. There, upward of 300 youngsters from all over America gather to compete in an old-fashioned a-c-a-d-e-m-i-c contest that even parents can understand.

The two students in this year’s finals, held last week, were Kristin Hawkins, a Virginia eighth-grader who nailed h-a-m-a-r-t-i-a (a defect of character) but stumbled over r-e-s-i-p-i-s-c-e-n-c-e, which, as everyone knows, means a change of mind or heart.

This mispelling (we know, just checking on you) created an a-p-e-r-t-u-r-e for Sean Conley, a 13-year-old home schooler from S-h-a-k-o-p-e-e, Minn., who finished second last year. Sean knew there are two c’s in s-u-c-c-e-d-a-n-e-u-m (one that succeeds to the place of another). So he won $10,000. Kristin got $5,000.

However, the top prize for some of us, perhaps recalling that awful day in the school auditorium when v-a-c-u-u-m came up one u short, was the simple sight of Sean’s wide-eyed, innocent face. Anxious but eager and poised, Sean stood before the crowd and the TV cameras politely awaiting the judges’ verdict, daring to hope. Following long moments of apprehension he looked initially lost and then quietly quite pleased as it sank in that after six years of study at home with Mom and Dad, he’d been declared v-i-c-t-o-r-i-o-u-s.

Every day’s news contains conflict, tragedy, political choreography, failures and showoffs. On this page we chronicle much d-i-s-p-u-t-a-t-i-o-u-s-n-e-s-s (discussion marked by contention and a fondness for arguing). Not here. Not now. Thank you, K-r-i-s-t-i-n and S-e-a-n (two shy youngsters whose hard work made many total strangers feel p-r-o-u-d and g-o-o-d).