Item: Cd'A Home Schooler Wins Regional Spelling Bee/RuralNorthwest.com

More Info: Eighth-grader Rachel Pinkerton of Coeur d'Alene outspelled 38 other fourth- through eighth-graders from the five northern counties of Idaho to become the champion speller in the fifth annual North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee March 29 at North Idaho College. Pinkerton, a 12-year-old home school student, received a Merriam Webster's Third New International Dictionary, a $100 Samuel Louis Sugarman U.S. savings bond, a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online Student Edition, a plaque, a medallion and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee May 29 and 30.

Question: Does the success of 12-year-old Rachel Pinkerton underscore the claim by many home-schoolers that their brand of education is superior.

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