ShareThisWASHINGTON, D.C. -- Call it their 15 minutes of fame.It's the final day of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Mark and Pam Johnston's daughter is one of the few remaining competitors.The Bee began with 288. At mid-afternoon just 24 remain.In the moment before their daughter, Kaitlyn, receives her word the Windermere, Fla. couple clasps their hands. The word is "soutache."As Kaitlyn, 15, solicits details on the word -- almost every speller asks for the word's pronunciation, definition and language of origin -- a television cameraman closes in on the couple.The cameraman is part of ESPN's live coverage of the event. He forces his camera to within a few feet of the couple's faces, planting himself in front of them. The couple tightens their grip and focuses on their daughter.They're pretending to ignore the camera.At the Bee, the spectators have become part of the story. Their children may battle to become the nation's best speller, revealing their pre-teen idiosyncrasies in front of no fewer than 10 video cameras and countless camcorders. But they're not the only ones with cameras shoved in their faces."I don't know if I'm nervous even, because I didn't even think I'd be here," Pam Johnston says.In the lobby adjacent to the competition, defeated spellers mill in front of a flat screen TV. They're watching the Bee "live" on ESPN.Why not just watch it unfold in person? "It's cooler," says Gaurav Sirdeshpande, of Lancaster, Penn. "You can see everything better on here."Mark Johnston says he's more proud of his daughter's composure than her success.Kaitlyn finds out that soutache is of Hungarian origin. It's a narrow braid, often used for trimming.She starts to spell the word. Pam taps a finger as Kaitlyn enunciates each letter.Kaitlyn isn't sure about the first vowel, she later recounts. Kaitlyn figures it would be better to try the easier spelling.Her goal is simply not to embarrass herself, she says."I didn't want to say 'O-U' and then have it be the simpler one," she says.S-U-T-A-C-H-E.Kaitlyn finishes, and then, silence.A bell rings.Kaitlyn is out.Still in front of the camera, the couple unclasps their hands.While Pam and Mark Johnston compose themselves, the cameraman slides four seats to his right. Sitting there is the next speller's family, their faces ready for the camera.E-mail Isaac Wolf at wolfi(at)shns.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Spelling bee families find themselves on camera
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
