BAIRD, BROOKS, DITZEN, DUBUQUE, DYE, FARRINGTON, FAUST, HARDY, HAYES, HOWELL, KELLY, KENDALL, KENOSKY, KLINE, MARTIN, McCARTY, MYER, MYERS, OSBORN, PEARSON, PERKINS, SEEMAN, SMITH, SNYDER, STEVENS, THOMAS, THOMPSON, WURINNER "The Kansas City Times" (Missouri) Saturday, January 28, 1922 MAMMA SPELLS THE BEST. "Spell geranium," said the teacher giving out the words at an old-fashioned spelling "Bee." "G-e-r-n-a-u-i-m," said a little girl 12 years old. "Wrong," said the teacher. "G-e-r-a-n-i-u-m," said the mother of the little girl from the other side of the room. The little girl, blushing and confused, returned to her seat and the spelling match was over. Thus it was that mother outspelled daughter at a spelling match yesterday afternoon at the Parker school, Kansas City, Kas. The contestants were the pupils of the sixth grade and members of the Parent-Teacher Association of the school. The mother was Mrs. G. C. SEEMAN, route 4, Kansas City, Kas., and the daughter, Helen SEEMAN. Two other mothers were still standing when Miss Virginia KLINE, teacher of the sixth grade, gave out the fatal work, "geranium." They were Mrs. E. P. KELLY, Thirty-sixth street and Frederick avenue, and Mrs. Lawrence FAUST, 3140 Greeley avenue. The words selected for the match were from the Kansas speller, chosen by M. E. PEARSON, superintendent of schools in Kansas City, Kas. Miss KLINE started with the list of words studied by the sixth grade. One by one mothers and pupils dropped from the line as such "stingers" as "amateur," "loneliness," "separate," "judgment," and other catchy words puzzled their memory. By the time all of the words studied by the sixth grade had been exhausted, the three mothers and the little girl were left standing. Miss KLINE went through the list again. Still none missed. Then she turned to the list of words used by the fifth grade pupils. This was a fatal move for the pupils, for among these words was the one that proved their downfall, geranium. The words given out were not long, scientific terms, but words used in every day speech. As Miss KLINE said, mistakes made were attributable to thoughtlessness and carelessness more than ignorance. Abbreviations proved a stumbling block for quite a number of both pupils and mothers. One mother spelled "forenoon" with two "o's" in the first syllable. It was spelled correctly by a pupil. The next mother in line was asked to give the abbreviation. She gave it as "p.m." A shout of laughter arose which evidently confused the next pupil in line, as she, too, gave the same abbreviation. Those who took part in the match: Mothers: Mrs. J. N. BAIRD Mrs. G. C. SEEMAN Mrs. R. HOWELL Mrs. E. P. KELLY Mrs. J. A. STEVENS Mrs. D. C. KENDALL Mrs. W. J. FARRINGTON Mrs. R. L. BROOKS Mrs. C. McCARTY Mrs. J. H. MYERS Mrs. P. R. DUBUQUE Mrs. Laurence FAUST Mrs. D. HARDY Mrs. S. P. PERKINS Mrs. P. H. DITZEN Pupils: Melvin MEYER Albert THOMPSON Willie SNYDER Lucille DYE Ruby HARDY Gladys WURINNER Helen SMITH Helen SEEMAN Burd DUBUQUE Howard OSBORN Ethel HAYES Laura OSBORN Dorothy KENOSKY Elizabeth MARTIN Esther THOMAS Mildred MYERS ====================================================== (I have no connection with any of these families but I'd appreciate knowing if you found this posting helpful.) [email protected] ======================================================