Andrew Jackson was not elected to high office for his spelling skills. The record shows that our seventh president wrote of the continent of “Urope,” good “devilopment,” and speaking before a “larg” audience. John Quincy Adams once quipped that Jackson was “a savage who can scarcely spell his own name,” to which Jackson shot back: “It’s a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word.” A.J. would be miffed to discover that spelling bee rules say different. This week, the Northampton Education Foundation hosts its 16th annual Adult Spelling Bee at JFK Middle School, where three-person teams (registered in advance) spell their hearts out for the chance to win prizes for spelling, fun costumes, and a good sense of humor. Come cheer on some local heroes as they sweat it out onstage over some of our mongrel tongue’s more bizarre adjectives and suspiciously fake-sounding nouns. At $5, it’s a cheap and unusual option for date night – the registration fees and ticket revenue go to grants for Northampton Public Schools – and every few minutes you get to lean over to a fellow logophile and smugly whisper: “I totally knew that one.”

Northampton Education Foundation Adult Spelling Bee: Wednesday, March 30, 6-8:30 p.m. $5. JFK Middle School, 100 Bridge Road, Northampton, (413) 586-1290.