Michael Durnil, the bee’s new executive director, said he hopes to make more resources available to spellers who can’t access elite-level training. have access to a network of bees and other academic competitions targeting their community. ethnic group, according to Census data, and Indian professionals who immigrate to the U.S. The bee has been rightly celebrated as a showcase for students of color - a speller of South Asian descent has been the champion or co-champion of every bee since 2008 - but Zaila is not the first speller to point out issues with economic diversity. “With tutors and stuff, they charge, like, murder rates.” “Maybe they don’t have the money to pay $600 for a spelling program, they don’t have access to that,” Zaila said. Zaila said she hopes to inspire other African-Americans who might not understand the appeal of spelling or can’t afford to pursue it. The only previous Black winner of the bee was also the only international winner: Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998. She could also make spelling history of a different sort, by becoming the first Black American champion. Zaila - whose father changed her last name to Avant-garde in honor of jazz musician John Coltrane - would chart a new career path for spellers if her hoop dreams come true. The structure of the bee is different, the location is different, so I’m really excited to see what this bee has in store,” said 14-year-old Ashrita Gandhari of Ashburn, Virginia, competing for the fourth time. “This is an entirely different experience.
Normally staged at a convention center outside Washington, the bee was moved to an ESPN campus in Florida, with attendance strictly limited and masking and distancing protocols in place. Whether all that preparation leads to a trophy and $50,000 in cash and prizes will be determined Thursday night when Zaila faces 10 other spellers for the only in-person portion of this year’s pandemic-altered bee. I have some suspicions that maybe it’s a bit less than what some spellers do,” she said. “We don’t let it go way too overboard, of course. “For spelling, I usually try to do about 13,000 words (per day), and that usually takes about seven hours or so,” she said. But Zaila, who is home-schooled, claims to have it figured out. The time commitment required to master roots, language patterns and definitions is what keeps many top spellers from seriously pursuing sports or other activities. She won last year’s Kaplan-Hexco Online Spelling Bee - one of several bees that emerged during the pandemic after Scripps canceled last year - and used the $10,000 first prize to pay for study materials and $130-an-hour sessions with a private tutor, 2015 Scripps runner-up Cole Shafer-Ray. But basketball’s like the main dish.”ĭon’t be mistaken: Zaila brings the same competitive fire to spelling that she shows on court. I’m really trying to go somewhere with it. A post shared by 🔮🐝 Zaila Avant-garde hopes to attend Harvard, play in the WNBA and possibly coach one day in the NBA, if she doesn’t go to work for NASA.Ĭompetitive spelling came relatively late in life, starting at age 12.
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