By Blake A. Vartanian, DRE #00871999
Happy Monday!
In 8th grade at Kraemer Jr. High, before it was called Kraemer Middle School in Placentia, I had won the school spelling bee in the early spring about the same time of the year it is now. It was March of 1973, I was getting good grades, I liked school, I had a paper route, and I was about to compete in the Orange County Spelling Bee. My English Teacher Mr. Moore was working with me and already had visions of me in Sacramento winning the state championship and going on to nationals. I am not saying I was that bold because I wasn’t. The day of the OC spelling Bee arrives, and the competition began with more than 100 kids in the ‘bee’ from around the OC at Orange Coast College. I distinctly remember the stage and that the audience was much bigger than the one at the Valencia High auditorium, where the Kraemer spelling bee had occurred.
The rounds went by, and it was down to the top 6. I was still in the competition and they gave us a break. Mr. Moore was excited, and I was hopeful but uncertain as there was a lot of talent in that room. When the spelling bee resumed, I was given a scientific term that I was unfamiliar with after the first person missed it. I heard the judges respond, ‘that is not correct’ and I was done. All 6 of us were asked to spell the same word, and we all missed it. They invited the last two finalists back up, and Mr. Moore went ballistic. Not at me, because I don’t think he knew how to spell the word either. He felt that it was unfair that I was eliminated because no one got the word spelled correctly. So needless to say, my journey to spelling bee stardom and fame was over with an official 5th place Orange County wide finish…..and actually I was relieved.
My brother, Mike Vartanian, and I were both good spellers. Our paternal side of the family spoke Armenian when they didn’t want the kids to know what was going on - and our maternal side ‘spelled’ and had us doing cross word puzzles, word searches & playing scrabble. I consider myself today to be less than average in spelling, so please know I have little to zero interest in being tested 😂
After the OC contest was over, I returned to Kraemer to a cross section of students and teachers who ranged from ‘proud’ of the school being represented so well, to disappointment that I didn't win the whole thing. At 14, I did the only thing I knew how to do: fight back with my verbal skills (or lack thereof) against the naysayers. Unfortunately, that landed me int he principal's office 4 times in one week. The principal, Mr. Baughman, was super nice and took the time to look at my school records, which clearly demonstrated since 1st grade my proclivity for ‘disrupting’ the classroom and on occasion questioning the teachers authority. A few weeks ago, I had a random opportunity to approach former principal Mr. Baughman as he and his wife were dining across the restaurant from me - now 50 years later.
I approached with trepidation, as I kept thinking ‘what if it isn’t him?’ or ‘what if he doesn’t care?’. I didn’t expect him to remember me or the moments of that time. Interestingly enough it was him and we had a really nice conversation. 50 years later I got to thank him for sending me home with a mission to figure it all out vs. expelling or suspending me at the time. His wife joined in the conversation and they both were so pleasant. I left feeling fulfilled that I was able to check this item off my bucket list by sharing with him how much his patience and mutual respect for a teenager meant to me. He helped me discover who I wanted to be 'reputationally’ vs. simply taking harsh action against the student by unnecessarily disciplining them.
Moving forward, we all have people of influence who made a difference in our lives. This situation really got me to thinking - what if we all reached out to those people and just checked in and shared how their contributions helped to shape us? It may not lead to another sale, but it sure feels good to know that I was able to have that random chance meeting and a welcome environment in which to bring closure to something like this.
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THURSDAY:
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