Must not mention private schooling

You no doubt saw some of the press coverage of the young Indian girl who won the national spelling bee. But did you notice something odd? None of the reports mentioned what school she went to! Since learning to spell is very much an educational activity, you would think that her school had some relevance. Links to the BBC, ABCNews and AP coverage here, here, and here.

As far as I can see, it is only by viewing the Bee's website that you could learn learn that Speller No. 201, Anamika Veeramani, attended Incarnate Word Academy in Ohio, a private Catholic school.

Maybe there were some news reports that mentioned that but it sure stands out that so many did not.

The problem may have been the name of the school. "Incarnate Word" is a reference to John 1:1 and is a very religious name for Jesus Christ. We can't have people exposed to Biblical references can we? Has it come down to separation between church and spelling bees?

As an aside, I thought it was a bit unfair to ask her to spell a German word -- even if it is sometimes used in rarefied medical circles. Stromuhr is actually a very easy word to spell if you know German. It is just German for "stream clock". "Uhr" is related to our word "hour"

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).