The Student Becomes the Master: Sierra Shoemaker Spells It Like It Is

When 12-year-old Sierra Shoemaker was given the word “braille” at her California school district’s spelling bee, she spelled it “b-r-a-i-l-l-e.”

“WOMP!” claimed the judges (in more polite terms). “‘Braille’ only has one ‘l,” they said, referring to their incorrectly-typed answer sheets. But Sierra knew better. She knew she was right.  Yet, instead of calling attention to the glaring error, she bit her tongue, swallowed her pride and accepted defeat.

Okay. So Sierra’s probably not going to grow up to be a lawyer, but she definitely deserved her chance to be a speller. Which is why her school community decided to appeal the judges’ decision on her behalf. That appeal was initially denied, but the school “appealed the appeal” and now little miss Shoemaker is on her way to the 2013 Fresno County Spelling Bee. Rightfully so.

Now get out there and spell like you’ve never spelled before! Here’s hoping you don’t get something tricky like, “cymotrichous.” Can you use that in a senten … Actually, yeah, nevermind. That’s not even helpful.

You. Go. Girl. Y-O-U. G-O. G-I-R-L.

Featured image courtesy of Huffington Post/KMPH