Zaila Avant-garde Makes History as 1st African American Spelling Bee Champ

AP Staff : Jul 9, 2021
Newsmax.com

[Newsmax.com] Zaila knew she would be the first African American winner of the bee ... She even thought of MacNolia Cox, who in 1936 became the first Black finalist at the bee and wasn't allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the spellers. But she never let the moment become too big for her, and when she heard what turned out to be her winning word—"Murraya," a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees—she beamed with confidence. It was over... "She really just had a much different approach than any speller I've ever seen. She basically knew the definition of every word that we did, like pretty much verbatim," [spelling coach Cole Shafer-Ray] said. "She knew, not just the word but the story behind the word, why every letter had to be that letter and couldn't be anything else"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here. Click here to read. (Screengrab image)