Well, oops. School district’s spelling fail happens in front of the wrong crowd

Just so you know, I’m going to make some really embarrassing typos in the next few days, because God help the woman who works at a daily newspaper and uses her forum to make fun of another group’s very unfortunate typos.

But I have to.

The irony of it is just too great.

On Wednesday night at the Junior Scholars banquet in Beaufort, 149 Beaufort County eighth-graders were given “Certifiates of Acheivement.”

That’s right.

The wicked smart kids were honored with a double-doozy of a misspelling from the very people who would have marked them down for that.

First, I don’t even have to imagine what the responsible party feels like right now, because I’ve been there. (There’s a lot of head-hanging and some ill-advised eating afterward. It takes a full 24 hours to leave the system, friend. Just let it wash over you, and then shake it off.)

But second, yikes. I think it’s safe to say, this is the worst crowd to have this happen with.

The honorees of these “Certifiates of Acheivement” were those with “exceptional academic talent,” according to a news release, who scored 50 or higher on the PSAT in verbal, math or writing, or those who participated in Duke University’s Talent Identification Program in seventh grade. This “certifiate” is likely going to lead to more stuff to put into the old college-application portfolio.

And, by the way, where there are smart kids, you know there are smart parents.

We probably could’ve counted out the seconds on one hand that it took for the whole banquet room to notice that it’s “I” before “E” except for some reason right now in this very moment, kids. Congatulations on you’re hard work, though!

I did that on purpose. My karma typos will start Monday, no doubt.

You should know that teachers at the event did notice the error and let the district know. Parents also, as expected, emailed the superintendent’s office to make them aware.

And while part of the scuttlebutt afterward has seemed to focus on Superintendent Jeff Moss’ signature appearing on the bottom of a misspelled certificate, he did not individually sign these, according to an email he sent back to one of the error-noticers.

“While the errors, the two typos, were regrettable,” school district spokesman Jim Foster said Thursday, “by all accounts the event itself was wonderful.”

And he said new certificates are already on their way to the middle schools ... so bring your red pens to school tomorrow, kids.

I’m just kidding!

I’m sure they were triple-checked this time. If not, I might as well not come in to work next week.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Well, oops. School district’s spelling fail happens in front of the wrong crowd."