Spell-checking student shocked by exposure

WICHITA, Kan., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A Kansas high school student says he never expected to gain nationwide media exposure just for pointing out a spelling error on a writing exam.

Geoffrey Stanford, 17, a junior and International Baccalaureate student at Wichita's East High School, said his Facebook account received more than 100 friend requests and messages from strangers from across the country after he pointed out to a teacher that the word "emission" had been misspelled on a state writing test as "omission," The Wichita Eagle reported Monday.

Stanford's teacher passed the information on to higher-ups and the Kansas Department of Education has since e-mailed a correction to test coordinators.

The student said the attention he received after it was reported he spotted the error came as a surprise. He said many of the messages were congratulatory, while others were less friendly.

"I just never thought it would get to this point," he said. "Some people are saying 'Good job' and some are giving me a little grief about it."

Stanford said the attention may have been a result of people's appetite for good news.

"Maybe there's something kind of, I don't know, heartwarming about it," he said. "It's not one of those depressing stories you see a lot these days."