[driftless]

A few years back a home-schooled girl from Wisconsin, my state, won the NATIONAL spelling bee. One local public school teacher from her area was quick to dismiss it. He contemptuously stated that it didn't mean anything. How's that for undermining accomplishments? Of course the nitwit was upset that it was a home-schooled kid who won it and not someone who had the misfortune to come out of one Wisconsin's public schools.

[blackdog]

Homeschooled kids have won the national spelling bee each time in the past six or so years. The defense talking points issued by the NEA include that it's unbalanced children winning it. They study six hours a day on spelling and vocabulary in preparation for it. Thus an unfair standard is presented to the public school kids, since they are so "balanced".

[gobucks]

My favorite winner, I'll never forget this, was a home schooled girl from NY:

1997 Rebecca Sealfon, Daily News, New York, New York euonym - a name well-suited to the person, place or thing named

The girl you refer to , i think, is:
1991 Joanne Lagatta, The Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisconsin antipyretic - an agent that reduces fever


Ha!! Home Schoolers, an euonymic phrase if there ever was one, are antipyretically fighting the fire storm of public re-edukation kamps that the USA has suffered for the last almost 100 years!