Zaila Avant-garde, a 14 year old African American from New Orleans, Louisiana, among other 11 finalists, has won the US National Spelling Bee Competition, held at Orlando Florida, USA.
Reports have it that Zaila, who considered spelling as a “side hobby”, used up to 7 hours per day trying to spell up to 13,000 words which, eventually made her emerge the winner of the contest, with a $50,000 prize.
Zaila, who although, not the first black girl to win the spelling competition, is the first African American to win the contest while Jody-Anne Maxwell, a 12 year old Jamaican, is the first black to ever win the tournament.
Zaila, who is also a basketball player, has however said, her love for basketball remains a topmost priority, and that she hopes to be a pro someday.
Among words correctly spelt by the 14 years old Zaila are: “querimonious”, “solidungulate”, “nepeta” while the word, “murraya” made her scaled through to victory.