Making of a champion

No sooner had Rebekah Pinkerton correctly spelled "bezoar" than the annual controversy began.

We're not talking about whether an appeal earlier in Saturday's North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee should have been overturned, or if the manner in which spellers are eliminated should be revised, as some parents suggested after the contest had ended.

We're talking about one of the subplots that seems always to swarm around these bees.

Rebekah is a fifth-grader who is home schooled. Since The Press began sponsoring the bee and North Idaho College began running it eight years ago, five champions have been home schooled. Twice the winner was from the private school division, and once - the second year of competition - the champ emerged from public schools.

While we confess to being curious about the makings of every champion, some consider the issue a referendum on the quality of education. You know, public schools vs. private schools vs. home-schooled kids, all of whom compete across North Idaho for our particular bee.

The arguments run the gamut:

n Home-school kids have an advantage because they can devote much more time to memorizing spelling words than can public- and private-school kids.

n Private-school kids have an advantage because they come from economically advantaged households.

n Public-school kids have an advantage because to reach the regional bee, they face the stiffest competition, having to triumph over hundreds, sometimes thousands of their peers.

And on and on and on.

While tracking trends can be interesting, we think it's silly to make too much of these debates. Having been intimately involved in these bees the past eight years, we've concluded that the best spellers are the kids who are most motivated and, therefore, willing to work the hardest to succeed.

It's similar to sports. The best athletes appear to have a clear advantage, but the champions are usually the individuals or the teams with the greatest determination and the best work ethic.

Every year roughly 50 children, from fourth grade through eighth, meet at NIC to determine which one will represent North Idaho in the national bee at Washington, D.C. Although only one can go, each child truly is a champion. We only wish we could send them all.