Spelling Bee

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Just saw that 8 kids made it through 20 rounds of maximum difficulty words in the national spelling Bee. Judges ran out of words so awarded all 8 the top prize, all will get $50k. Good for those kids! Next time I hear somebody piss and moan on how bad the younger generation is etc etc I'm going to react badly.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Good for them! And I'm not being sarcastic. Those kids have learned that accomplishments don't come without a lot of work and dedication.

To toot our own horn a little bit... College Boy is out in the desert today with his "Rocket Team". They're launching their second rocket. Hoping for approx. 3,000 foot altitude. College Boy was responsible for the design, CAD and 3D printing of the air-frame.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Smokey, is he working on a team looking to compete in the NASA SLI competition?
Kevin, the tech support here, goes every year to help out. Rocketry is his big hobby.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Smokey, is he working on a team looking to compete in the NASA SLI competition?
Kevin, the tech support here, goes every year to help out. Rocketry is his big hobby.

Surprisingly, his university is not on NASA's list of teams participating this school year. Besides, they (mostly freshmen) are not quite up to that power level yet.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
The great works of young people in any venue get short shrift from news orgs. The focus of newsies is upon the negatives, from their mistaken beliefs that such rot commands attention and thereby sells ad copy.

That 8 young people ran the Spelling Bee out of tough words is REMARKABLE. STAND AND DELIVER, and some strong work got done. Good on 'em!
 

Intheshop

Banned
Smokey,one of the boys that was always over here.... he was an only child,and loved being around the romper room,sea of crazy boys here at the house.

His dad is some computer geek,but a genuinely nice guy and dad. The son goes off to college with God given talent for physics/computer science. I don't know his whole college pedigree but he works for NASA.

John his dad,used to wear this funny(I thought it so) tee shirt..... "my son,IS a rocket scientist" or sumthin to that effect on the back and maybe,"this ain't rocket science" on the front? whatever....

So,going along with the OP.....yes,there are some brilliant younger folks comin up through the system now..... and it is a shame the "whole" gets condemned with the crowd.
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
Our schools have failed our children for the most part, and left many of them as emotional cripples.

Anytime someone is taught that they are "owed" success, and that failure is the fault of others, we will see this sort of outcome. I am seriously impressed with the knowledge of the- dare I say it, winners of the Spelling Bee.

I best go make myself some coffee so I can be fit to be around.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
The schools haven't failed the kids. The system that controls the schools and dictates what will be taught and how has failed them!
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
The parents also failed the kids.
I had as much or more to do with the quality of my child’s education as the teacher did.
I taught the work ethic, set expectations, and was a positive role model.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
The parents also failed the kids.
I had as much or more to do with the quality of my child’s education as the teacher did.
I taught the work ethic, set expectations, and was a positive role model.
Could not agree more....
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
One of my college room mates does model rocketry in his retirement. He did Atlas-Centaurs and
such when he was working. He showed me one that has gone over 6,000 ft....they need all sorts
of special FAA airspace clearances. Very cool toys. And pass on congrats to College Boy,
smokewolf. Doing REAL stuff that will come flying apart and make a smoking hole if done wrong
is a great learning tool and lots of fun, too.

As to the spelling bee kids....what percentage of kids their age can't spell "laugh" except the
text-lish "laff" and other really bad habits learned texting?

Congratulations to the kids, although it would seem like they could have gone on a bit farther
to find a true winner. Seems like a tie may be a bit unsatisfying for them - gotta be really
competitive kids.

Bill
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Yes and no on the parents. If there is one thing we learned homeschooling it was that a great deal of what is done in school under the guise of "education" is meeting mandates dictated by bureaucrats to create round pegs that fit in round holes. The best parents in the world can't overcome a school that cares more about sports, budgets and building the castle than providing a good education. So, yes, absolutely the parents are part if the issue. But so is having an environment geared to education rather than pushing them through with as little fuss as possible.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Yes and no on the parents. If there is one thing we learned homeschooling it was that a great deal of what is done in school under the guise of "education" is meeting mandates dictated by bureaucrats to create round pegs that fit in round holes. The best parents in the world can't overcome a school that cares more about sports, budgets and building the castle than providing a good education. So, yes, absolutely the parents are part if the issue. But so is having an environment geared to education rather than pushing them through with as little fuss as possible.

I don't dare let Marie read this, Bret. She will get on here and bend everyone's ear for 45 minutes on the subject of shotcallers and pogues ruining education with their newspeak and nonsense. She gave up and retired in June 2017. Now--she is back in school to get re-certified as an R.N. This started in January, and she pulled an "A"/4.0 in Medical Microbiology and a high "B"/3.8 in Anatomy & Physiology. She started the 2nd half of A&P today as a summer school class in order to be admissible into an R.N. program in Fall or Winter. Retirement did not yet suit her tastes, let's just say. Nursing was her first love, teaching became her craft when spouse #1 departed and child care became impossible working nights in the E.R. Marie is just scary-smart, which does beg the question--"What the BLANK is she doing with me?" It is a lot of fun, and NEVER boring. We are good for each other.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
My wife thinks I'm a project that needs constant tuning and course correction...
She might be right.
My favorite saying is, "In my defense, I was left unsupervised".
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Al, "What the BLANK is she doing with you?". Anybody who's been a cop or a nurse can answer that one. Cops and nurses have been keeping company for as long as I can remember. Both work weird shifts, both see the not so pleasant side of humanity and both have the intestinal fortitude to deal with that.
Before being accepted by a police dept. I headed up security for a smallish hospital in East Ventura County.
As I was on duty 24/7, I'll say that I spent the majority of my time in the company of nurses and looking back, I can say that it was all quality time.

Al, you're obviously a very lucky guy and I'm thinking Marie didn't do so bad for herself either.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
My wife has been in Special Education for 20 some years as a Speech Therapist. She's more than ready to retire, mostly due to the admin garbage in the "not for profit" profit driven multi-county agency she works for. They are driving all the good teachers out despite a growing case load.


Cops and nurses. Almost as many marriages have gone south because they were spending more time together than the cops actual wife did as those lost to strippers, comm specs, admin secretaries and of course female cops. We had one guy we warned time after time but he wouldn't listen. I think he just lost wife #3, a secretary from when he was a School Resource Officer. #2 was a nurse. #1 was just crazy, and crazier after she caught with #2 and a couple of others!
 
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