The Associated Press reports from Springfield, Massachusetts, May 7, 1997:

Clammy hands and cold sweats—there's nothing that p-a-l-p-i-t-a-t-e-s the heart as much as a spelling bee.

That's why the Springfield School Volunteers have scrapped the annual citywide spelling bee in favor of a Scrabble tournament—much to the annoyance of parents, students and educators....

The group, which had support from schools Superintendent Peter Negroni, said the bee provided too much stress and too few rewards.

"We found that the spelling bee for young children was very difficult. They're up there on stage, all by themselves. It's very high pressure," said Teresa Regina, assistant to the superintendent.

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