First African-American Spelling Bee Champ

An avid basketball enthusiast Zalia Avant-garde, becomes the first African American to win the Scripps Spelling Bee competition.

The 14 year old is not new to winning. Zalia holds three Guinness world records for her World record dribbling skills, one of them being for the most number of bounce juggles of a basketball in one minute. 

The 2021 champion hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. Zalia’s study regime consisted of seven hour long study sessions and 1300 words reviewed a day.

The Scripps Spelling Bee started in 1925. The Spelling Bee’s purpose is to improve spelling and vocabulary of children. This year there were 18 rounds. Over 200 hundred kids participated. The rounds differed from spelling and word meaning. Zalia won the spelling bee by spelling the word Murraya, a citrus plant from Australia and Asia, correctly. 

Her goal is to one day play in the WNBA,  and although she has received three full ride college scholarships, she hopes to attend Harvard and work at NASA. She told journalists that she hopes her historic win will inspire other young black people in the US to excel at spelling. 

Here is a quote from the former First Lady Michelle Obama:

“When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.”

Be Amazing! 🍋