Spelling Bee

Alicia and Andrew have mentioned the idea of a spelling be, and have since advocated strongly in favor of making it happen as part of our KEY project. Amanda recently asked "what a spelling bee is going to contribute to the greater good of the community. What is the purpose? what are our goals?" to which i say:

Its a good point to bring up. The initial thoughts and excitements surrounding the idea are obviously catchy and its easy to assume that would be a great thing, but we really should think through this seemingly simple decision.

Obvious Positives:

• it is "educational." this fits with our project "goals" at this point in the game and, like flack said, its something concrete we could definitely pull off to justify our free year...done and done
• It would be baller to see a bunch of kids spell on stage
• it *could* potentially bring community members together for "healthy competion" and even catch the holy grail of UR projects and "bridge the gap" between school and community in a publicizable (not a word, should be) way...

Not-so-Obvious Negatives:

• Is a competition the best type of learning we want to promote? In an age of high-stakes learning environments, will this just reinforce the idea that kids who can "win" or get high numbers succeed, and those who dont, wont...
• Will it ultimately discourage kids who dont perform well?
• Is it an environment that is inclusive for all learning types? I imagine it would inherently work against an introspective personality or a visual learner.

I have no firm stance, (as I just clearly defined some things worth discussing as a group) so ets talk about it!

holla back youngins.

.d