The pinafore of Ethan’s success

Yes, you read it right - Pinafore. Not pinnacle, Pinafore. P-I-N-A-F-O-R-E. Because had it been “pinnacle” Ethan would have been able to spell it correctly and he would have gotten to the next round, But luck was not on his side, it was the word “pinafore” that was given him, a word that no one in our household was familiar with, and so foreign to Ethan that he even misheard and spelt it as P-I-N-A-T-H-O-R. It was wrong, of course, and Ethan was eliminated after having survived 8 rounds.

It was the NSW Regional Spelling Competition 2018 and Ethan was chosen to represent his school alongside 1 other student on his level, and 2 others on higher levels. Students from 30 other schools competed in a knockout tournament where kids had to spell a randomly chosen word (by an arbiter). Those who spell their words right move on to the next round, and those who don't get eliminated.

It was a game of luck as much as it was of smarts. Others were lucky enough to get words like "TEA" or "LEAF" or "BEE", but others not so much, with works like "INVINCIBLE" or "INTOLERABLE". Or the word "BOAR" which the deeply Australian-accented artbiter pronounced has "BOH" and used the sentence "They caught the BOH rolling in the mud". I pity the girl who got that word and misspelt/misheard it as "ball."  She was very unlucky just as Ethan was on his 9th round.

I know, I sound bitter. Because I am. I hate the format. Would have been better if they gave the kids pens and papers and asked them to spell the same word.

Rant aside, we are very very proud of our big boy Ethan. He won his school competition and came to this Regional Finals representing his school. Being there among the finest from the NSW schools is an outstanding achievement.

Good job, Kuya. We’re very proud of you.