# @edutopia on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CRHuCpqnNO7
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20303760-edutopia-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/9344f030da.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-07-09T20:56:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Edutopia (@edutopia) — https://gondola.cc/edutopia

## Caption

Under bright lights and swirling rainbow-colored confetti, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde became the first Black American to win the scrippsnationalspellingbee yesterday, winning on the word murraya—a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees. 

“Does this word contain the English name ‘Murray,’ which can be the name of a comedian or just an English name in general?” asked Avant-garde, a rising ninth grader and native of Harvey, Louisiana, before answering correctly.

This year, 209 competitors from the United States and abroad were up against a new format of the bee that included vocabulary questions—Avant-garde’s specialty. She says she spent two years preparing for the competition, succeeding in the nine final rounds to take home the win. In addition to the trophy, Avant-garde—who also holds three guinnessworldrecords titles for her basketball skills—received a $50,000 cash prize. 

“She really just had a much different approach than any speller I’ve ever seen,” said Cole Shafer-Ray, Avant-garde’s private coach and 2015 Scripps bee runner-up.

Avant-garde’s victory marks a historic turning point. Until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Black children were often barred from participating in spelling bees. In the almost 100 years of the Scripps competition, Jody-Anne Maxwell—who represented Jamaica in 1998—has been the sole non-American Black champion. On national television, Avant-garde said she hopes to see many more African Americans excelling in spelling—and winning competitions. 

As for her next steps, Avant-garde has her sights set on playing professional basketball, attending Harvard University, and maybe even working for NASA. 

“I’m gonna have lots of fun. That’s about the broadest description I can give you,” said Avant-garde, smiling, of her plans to celebrate.

Photo Credit: Scripps National Spelling Bee

#ScrippsNationalSpellingBee #zailaavantgarde

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## Tags

zailaavantgarde, scrippsnationalspellingbee

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