Ok, I honestly don't know if it's an issue of our little girls not advancing into the semi-finals or whether it's really that parents aren't giving them the opportunity, but I was sad to see that there were very few Latinos in the Semifinals of the National Spelling Bee.
In fact, there's only two boys (out of 50 kids) that represent Latinos in the U.S.: Mark De Los Santos and Thomas Rubio. And while I'm wishing them lots of luck, I can't help but wonder: where are the Latina girls to participate in the National Spelling Bee?
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It seems strange to me that no Latina girls made it into the top 50. I was always a great speller as a child but, now that I think about it, I don't think my parents ever encouraged me to enter any contests as a kid. Looking back, I really wish they had because I think it would have helped to build up my confidence. And, let's not lie, but winning $30,000 in cash would have helped quite a bit, too.
Considering that there are a lot of Latinos still living in poverty but a lot of Latinas attending college, I think parents should be aware of these kind of opportunities. Even two Latinos making it into the semifinals of the National Spelling Bee is not nearly enough, considering that we make up about 1 in every 6 Americans. So shouldn't there be closer to, I don't know, eight Latino kids in the competition?
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Clearly we aren't fairly represented in the mix! I think parents need to start doing more to help improve their kids education and making sure that they're also taking advantage of competitions like this, if only because taking home the prize money will be even better for the kids. I, for one, really hope that next year we'll be seeing some Latina girls on that stage, spelling their hearts out.
Has your kid ever entered into a national contest? Do you think that more Latina girls and Latino boys need to be represented in the National Spelling Bee? Share with us in the comments below!
Image via erin m/flickr
