National Spelling Bee Champion, Zaila Avant-garde of LA Makes History, 1st African American Winner

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sat Jul 10, 2021, 04:51 PM - Edit history (2)

- Meet the new Scripps national spelling bee champion for 2021 who also holds three basketball world records. July 9, 2021. The first African American champion Zaila Avant-garde shares her secrets to her successes. ABC News.

- The first African American contestant to win National Spelling Bee is now aiming for Harvard, the NBA and NASA, CNN, July 9, 2021,
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/us/spelling-bee-winner-zaila-avant-garde/index.html

(CNN) Zaila Avant-garde wasn't focused on her place in history on Thursday when she became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 93 editions of the competition. Instead, she was thinking about Bill Murray. The 14-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, won the 2021 crown after correctly spelling murraya -- a type of tree -- that she associated with the famous comedian. When she realized she won, Zaila gave a little spin and jumped in the air as confetti rained from the sky.

"It felt really good to win because I have been working on it for like two years. So to actually win the whole thing was like a dream come true," she told CNN's "New Day" on Friday. "I felt like in the moment I snapped out of a surreal dream." To get there, the teen had to navigate her way through words like querimonious, solidungulate, and Nepeta, which she said was the hardest word she had to spell in the competition...

[samnsara]

1. that young lady is going places!

[appalachiablue]

2. How wonderful to see such a gifted,

hard working young girl who has it all. She'll go far in life and deserves the very best.

[appalachiablue]

3. Big Kick