July 8, 2021, 7:15 p.m. ETJuly 8, 2021, 7:15 p.m. ET The New York Times
The 11 spellers competing in the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee hail from seven states and the Bahamas, and have just finished fifth through eighth grade.Credit.Scripps National Spelling Bee
More than half have experience on the national stage. One eighth grader is a seasoned veteran of the most competitive circuit. A third call Texas home.
These are the students who reached the finals of this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. They hail from seven states and the Bahamas, and have just finished fifth through eighth grade. Four are from Texas, including two from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
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John Raoux / AP
Fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee and $50,000.
She crushed the competition with the winning word, murraya, a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees and celebrated with a twirl onstage under the confetti. But not before she got the judges to crack smiles by sneaking in a Bill Murray joke. (We won t explain the joke for you watch the champ execute it herself)
The 8th-grader from Harvey, La., is the first African American winner in the Bee s 96-year history, and the competition s second Black champion.
The triumph marks the return of the annual competition, which did not happen last year because of the pandemic. Avant-garde competed in the 2019 Bee, but didn t make it to the finals.
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