Life Imitating Art

Anybody who has seen The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee(on Broadway or on tour) will be familiar with this plot element, brought to life last week in Arkansas and reported by the Canadian Press:

Sixth-grader Morgan Sims knew how to spell "debacle," but she got an unfortunate lesson on its meaning when her northern Arkansas school district forgot a spelling bee entry fee.

Morgan correctly spelled "debacle" - meaning failure, in an often ludicrous way - to win the Craighead County Spelling Bee on Friday, taking home the first-place trophy and a $200 savings bond.

But her school forgot to pay a $100 per-building entry fee to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, said Craighead County School District co-ordinator Sandra Taylor.

The upfront fee is optional for the county bee but is required to advance to the state competition.

A rule is a rule, whether it's "i before e except after c" or it's requiring an entry fee to participate in competition.

Be sure to visit my CafePress store for gifts and novelty items!
Read my blog on Kindle!