They’re good spellers, but are they good at math?

Have you watched the National Spelling Bee where the kids get up there, stand tall and spell words you’ve never heard of? Some look like they might faint. A few have fainted. Some act like it’s no big deal. And others have tricks such as writing the word with their foot on the floor or with their finger on the palm of their hand.

People say kids can’t spell anymore because they don’t write anything out when they’re texting, and we all know a whole lot of their “writing” is in text form.

My friend Paul Morris and I are the only two people I know who use complete sentences and correct punctuation when we text. But that doesn’t mean I’m the speller I used to be. I had a difficult time spelling penicillin the other day, and I really struggled with Pinocchio. I’m getting a little too dependent on spell check.

Long before computers and cellphones, some people had a difficult time spelling. My older brother did. He was crummy at spelling. I didn’t kid him about it because, even though I could out-spell him, I was really bad at math. He was two grades ahead of me so it worked out for me to do his English homework, and he did my math. That was great until test time.

All these years later, it seems spelling can be a test. There are times I’m away from my computer and my phone writing something in longhand, in cursive, mind you, so yes, I am a dinosaur. All of a sudden a word doesn’t look right. Sometimes it’s a word I’ve written 10,000 times. And sometimes it is so wrong! When I mentioned this to friends, several agreed that spelling skills go the way of slim waistlines. That age thing again.

But wait, not necessarily. My husband, Dick Honeyman, is still a good speller. He reminds me from time to time that he was on the championship spelling team at Jefferson Elementary in 1951. They even got to compete in the spelling bee on KFH radio. He still has the small, tarnished trophy to prove it.

That’s why I’m encouraging him to enter the 8th Greater Wichita Senior Spelling Bee. It will be at Holy Cross Lutheran Church from 9 a.m. to noon on Aug. 4. The bee is open to good spellers who are age 50 and older. It’s sponsored by LifeVentures, and the entry fee is only five bucks. If you want to enter, send your check to LifeVentures, 4407 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67208. Deadline is July 24.

After you sign up, you might want to practice spelling. Blanche Parker won last year’s Senior Spelling Bee but says she’s not practicing because she won’t be competing this year. She’s not quitting for good as she plans to return the following year. Blanche couldn’t remember the word she spelled to win the bee on her second try. “I got to go up on stage twice. The first year I went, I was in about 13th place,” she said.

After two rounds of 25 written words each, the top 15 participants go on stage for an oral spelldown.

“It is fun to be in front of the audience, but I have to say it is nerve racking.” Blanche said.

The pronouncer for this contest is quite the speller. Mary Ann Fenske has won local and state spelling bees and was a finalist in the national spelling bee several years ago.

You won’t get a giant trophy or a Caribbean cruise if you win the Senior Spelling Bee, but you will get a fun prize and bragging rights. And if you don’t want to enter, at least go watch and spell along silently.

That’s what I’ll be doing. But mostly I’ll be wondering if they’re any good at math.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "They’re good spellers, but are they good at math?."