Go Granny go…

"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age." ~ Sophia Loren ~

When 80-year old Janey Cutler was escorted out onto the stage of Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium by Ant McPartlin for the initial televised auditions of the 2010 season of Britain’s Got Talent, no one expected this tiny songstress to pull a Susan Boyle moment.

Cutler, who hails from Wishaw, a former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland located 15 miles south-east of Glasgow is a seasoned mother of seven, grandmother to 13 and great grandmother of four, but as her name was announced to take her place in front of an audience of 3,000 she appeared hesitant, perhaps a bit overwhelmed.

Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan were polite and welcoming to her nonetheless, perhaps in deference to her age: they were all in for a shock.

Cutler belted out her own interpretation of “No Regrets,” the cabaret song made famous in 1960 by Edith Piaf and she won the hearts of all, receiving a standing ovation as well as continuing on to the very last rounds of BGT.

Even though Cutler’s subsequent performances appeared more polished and she was gussied up a bit, there were slight problems with intonation and a certain stiffness that was not present in the audition taping. Ultimately, she and the other finalists lost the top title to a gymnast troupe known as Spellbound.

The video below shows it was not so much a Susan Boyle moment but more a Betty White Facebook generation moment, which is best referred to as “Elder Cool” a term coined by John H. Green, Ph.D in his book, In Elder Cool Time.

What is “Elder Cool” you ask? Well, according to the editorial review of Green’s Book – “You are Elder Cool if you decide it is time to teach others based on the wisdom of your aging process. Elder represents a purpose-evolving life experienced teacher, and cool is accepting the aging process with grace and dignity. Elder Cool is grace under challenge...”

When I finally grow up, I want to be just like Janey, Betty or Sophia – Elder Cool.

The 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee begins in Washington, D.C.

This week marked the arrival of 273 of the world’s best spellers, all under the age of 16, for the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee held at the Grand Hyatt International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The origins of the term “spelling bee” predate the year 1825, and began with the use of Noah Webster’s spelling books in the classroom.

In 1925, the very first ‘National’ bee was organized by the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky and brought together nine local spellers to compete. In 1941, the Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship rights for the program, and today’s bee offers children from all 50 states, American protectorates and international countries, the opportunity to compete for over $40,000 worth of cash and prizes.

These 273 finalists all began their spelling journey months ago in their classrooms - from public, private, parochial, charter and home schools – an estimated 10 million competitors worldwide.

Each of those classroom winners then advanced to school-wide contests, followed by regional competitions, which then winnowed numbers down to the 273 national finalists, who yesterday competed in a computer generated written round and oral rounds two and three earlier today.

The competition, which provides high drama in the advancing stages, will be broadcast by ESPN from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 4, 2010. The last spellers remaining will then compete at 8:00 p.m. ET and be broadcast live by the ABC television network.


Over the years, this mega contest of words has provided great learning opportunities for children and has fostered excellent entertainment as found in the 2002 Academy Award nominated documentary, SPELLBOUND, and the 2006 feature film, AKEELAH AND THE BEE.

The Bee has also been put to song in the much-honored touring musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and explored further in written works such as the five-star tome of essays, Red: The Next Generation of American Writers – Teenage Girls – On What Fires Up Their Lives Today, edited by Amy Goldwasser.

Included in Red is a humorous, first-person account, “Apiarian Days,” by violinist, Samantha Gillogly, who at the actual 2001 National Bee was ousted in the 6th round on a musical term. The essay captures much of what these children face during this week of nail-biting competition.

IMHO’s thanks to the vaughanski’s YouTube Channel for the marvelous piece of video footage from the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee that concludes this post.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for “Spelling bee fun: Ideas for playtime and literacy development.”