‘Akeelah and the Bee Come True’: New Orleans Eighth Grader Becomes First Black American Winner of Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee has a new champion in 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde. The Louisiana native made history as the first Scripps spelling bee champion from her state, and the second Black Scripps champion in the competition’s 96-year history. Avant-garde breezed through eighteen rounds of obscure words before landing on murraya. With little to no…