Zaila Avant-garde – 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee champ – stands where Black children were once kept out
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Shalini Shankar, Northwestern University
When Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8, 2021, she became the first Black American to win in the competition’s history. Shalini Shankar, a scholar of spelling bees, breaks down the importance of this historical moment.
Why is it news that an African American won this championship?
It’s significant because not so long ago, Black children would have faced a lot of obstacles just to compete in this spelling bee.
In fact, Black children were routinely sidelined from participating on the national stage until well after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Even after schools were ordered to racially integrate in the late 1950s, spelling bees were largely all-white affairs, thanks to regional organizers who routinely found ways to keep interested Black children from advancing in the contest.
Avant-garde’s victory is also significant because, like with any sport, people love to celebrate new records. This one is especially welcome because with the exception of Jamaican Jody-Anne Maxwell’s win in 1998, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has never had a Black winner.
This can be attributed to decades of disadvantage in which Black schools had far fewer resources to help support and train students for activities like spelling bees. It may seem surprising, but specialized brain sports like the bee – and so many other kid contests today – require a great deal of expertise, such as spelling coaches.
What does it take to be a spelling bee champ?
Becoming a spelling bee champion requires several stars to align. First and foremost, one needs a love of the English language, especially philology – that’s the historical development of language – and etymology – the study of word origins and roots. Winners need an ability to build vast knowledge in these areas and summon it on demand in a competitive setting. Without this interest, the task of studying thousands of words per day, as elite spellers do, would be onerous at best.
Equally important, as I learned when researching my book “Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z’s New Path to Success,” is the parental support an aspirational speller receives in terms of day-to-day studying, expert coaching and access to commercial word lists and resources, such as those designed by coaching companies. The Scripps National Spelling Bee also distributes word lists. However, champions have told me that these are not extensive enough to address the increasing difficulty of the bee.
Zaila Avant-garde’s father realized her aptitude for spelling when she was around 10, which is relatively late for a contest in which eligibility ends after eighth grade, when most spellers are 14. Spellers I studied started competing as early as 6 or 7, making them far more comfortable with the format of the contest by age 10. Still, Zaila made astounding progress from her third-round elimination in 2019 which I witnessed in National Harbor, Maryland, when she misspelled the word “vagaries,” to winning it all in 2021. That kind of transformation suggests a tremendous work ethic, extraordinary aptitude and a whole lot of parental investment and support.
What will it take to see more bee champs from diverse backgrounds in the future?
The against-all-odds success story featured in the 2006 fictional film “Akeelah and the Bee” underscores how vital the role of adult support and resources are to success. Now we have Zaila and the bee, which will hopefully attract a new generation of Black talent.
An actual win – versus fictionalized win – should serve as real inspiration to younger people, because until now aspiring Black children had no trailblazer. I believe Zaila will be very inspirational, like Venus and Serena Williams have been to a new generation of Black women tennis champions.
What’s especially interesting about Zaila’s path to the bee was that her father observed how fantastic her skills were when they watched the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee together. This raw talent got her to the national contest but kept her far from the final rounds – until she and her father learned about commercial word lists.
In her post-win interview, she noted using commercial word lists from a company called “Spell-Pundit,” created by former elite spellers, which according to them allowed her to study 13,000 words per day. This is the kind of edge that one needs to win a bee today, and it is fantastic that she was able to acquire these products to aid in her successful preparation. Ensuring that others with raw talent like hers have access to paid coaching resources is vital to continued diversity in this field.
[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.]Shalini Shankar, Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies, Northwestern University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Whether big or small, if you see something that people need, you can start a company.
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How do you start your own company?
Darryl Scriven, Clarkson University and Robyn Hannigan, Clarkson University
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected].
Have you ever heard the expression “No guts, no glory”? Making your own business starts with guts. If you’re someone who likes to take risks and has great ideas, starting your own company could be for you.
There are different kinds of companies that you could start. You could start a company producing something you invented, like an iPhone or a mobile app. Or you could start a company that licenses the brand of an existing company, such as McDonald’s or Subway. Companies like this are called franchises.
Between the two of us, we’ve started mobile gaming companies, owned franchises and created biotechnology companies from patented inventions. One of us is an analytical geochemist – someone who measures chemicals – with inventions including a chemical detector that measures metals in air, which in turn allows us to find and remove bad metals like mercury from smokestacks. This and other inventions were spun into a new company with her students. The other of us has started companies that provide everyday goods and services, from building houses to hosting birthday parties. Even though the companies we started are very different, both of us are what are called entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs are those who start a company, identify needs and bring together the people, materials and money required to meet that need. Everything you buy is to meet a need you have, and somewhere, some entrepreneur started a company to meet your needs. Whether you’re going solo or have a team, you can be an entrepreneur and start your own company.
Starting your own company
There are five basic steps to starting your own company:
1) Need: The first step is identifying the want or need you intend to meet. What do you hear people saying that they love? What do they complain about? What do you always say would make life easier? Once you figure out what people are yearning for and who exactly your target customers are through some market research, then you’re ready for the next step in starting your company.
2) Idea: The second step in starting a company is coming up with an idea that meets the want or need you identified. Is it an invention that takes out the garbage? Is it a better hamburger? A great idea that meets a want or a need can be complex, like a smartphone, or it can be simple, like bottled water.
3) Product: The third step is figuring out how you will provide the product or service. Will you create and sell a new kind of hamburger, or will you offer an existing kind of hamburger where it isn’t currently available? If you plan to create and sell something all on your own, you will found a startup. If you plan to offer something that already exists in a new area, you would buy into a franchise.
Starting your own company takes guts.
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4) Setup: Next, you’ll set up your company. There are many resources available to help you do this. The first thing you will do as a startup is become a legal entity, or a business on paper. This step may require an attorney, because there are many structures your business could take, and you will need to choose the right one. Then off to the bank to set up an account so you can start receiving money and paying your bills.
5) Market: Lastly, you will need to market your product. Whether you find your own customers or hire someone to do it, you’ll need to let people know that you have a product or service that is worth paying for. You can have the best company in the world that makes the best products, but your potential customers have to know about it in order for you to be successful. With all of this information in mind, you’ll write a business plan that provides the details of your product or service as well as your plan for funding and growth. The plan answers all of the questions of who, what, where, why and how. The more detailed this information is, the more likely someone will want to invest in your ideas and help grow your company.
Before we dreamed of being entrepreneurs or starting companies, we were kids who were curious, asked lots of questions and wanted to make the world a better place. Starting a company is a great way to do that. The company you start may literally change the world.
So don’t delay; the world is waiting for you.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected]. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
Darryl Scriven, Dean of Arts & Sciences, Clarkson University and Robyn Hannigan, Provost, Clarkson University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Zaila Avant Spelling Bee champ
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