A Very Civil Letter (or is it Barely Civil?)

Here is a copy of the letter I gave the principal today in regards to the spelling bee:

Dear Mr. __________,

I want to start by saying how excited I was to hear that ______ Elementary would be holding a spelling bee this year. I appreciate the work that it took to make it come to fruition. My son was really excited to participate. I realize this is a great way to get the children more involved in extra-curricular activities, in addition to learning that spelling can be fun. However, I want to express my displeasure in the manner in which the spelling bee for the lower grades was handled yesterday.

When one boy spelled “vacation” with two c’s, I smiled and mentally forgave it because I assumed they were being lenient for the lower grades. But when my son, Ethan, didn’t spell “America” with a capital A, and there was no forgiveness (or explanation, or apology, or anything), I was livid.

I realize that technically, proper nouns require a capital letter at the beginning of the word. However, there was nothing stated anywhere in the rules saying that this must be vocalized. I read both of the lists of instructions that were sent home, and while things such as time, misunderstood words, and homonyms were clearly stated, there was nothing discussing proper nouns.

If Ethan had made the mistake of not specifically spelling America with a capital A, and then the following two children had followed by properly capitalizing the word Easter, that may have been okay. However, both of the other children improperly spelled Easter, showing us that none of the children were told, and therefore taught, that they should vocally capitalize proper nouns while spelling words out loud during the spelling bee. However, since Ethan was the first one given a proper noun, he was out, while the other two were forgiven since they were the final two students (even though Easter was the very next word). At first, I was shocked, certain that they would realize the confusion and allow Ethan another chance. Then, when it became clear that no allowances would be made (especially after remembering the boy who spelled vacation with two c’s), I was furious.

I was told afterward that the judges had already decided beforehand that they would consider a word spelled incorrectly if a child did not specifically state it had a capital letter. However, how can we expect the children to know intrinsically in second grade that they should say the word “capital,” when saying one wrong letter anywhere within the word (even by accident – no retracting) would be considered incorrect?

There were numerous parents around me who came up to me and told me I should fight this; that it wasn’t fair. I decided that because it is “just” a lower-grade spelling bee, I wasn’t going to cause a scene. However, I feel sad that my child has been disenchanted because he studied and studied, and learned that regardless of whether he spelled a word correctly or “incorrectly,” he reaps the consequences of not being properly taught what was expected of him. I hope he is not so disenchanted that he refuses to participate next year. I have definitely been left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me: __-___. And in the future, please make the rules more explicit so we never have anything like this happen again.

Sincerely,

(P.S. As Melanie J. stated on Twitter yesterday, I realize I am becoming "that mom," and I really don't give a flying fig. Oh, and Melanie said she would be "that mom" too.)
(P.P.S. I gave the letter to the principal and then we had a nice talk afterward. He admitted that it was a mistake, that he wished he had a rewind button for yesterday afternoon, and that he felt terrible about the entire situation. I feel a little bit better, knowing that my frustration is justified, but I hate the fact that it is all at my son's expense.)