Zaila Avant-Garde Spells Her Way To Victory as the first African American by Maggie Astor and Maria Cramer
Zaila Avant-Garde wins Scripps National Spelling Bee
The last few words were rattled off in a swift spelling duel, with only two finalists still on the stage, Chaitra Thummala and Zaila Avant-garde.
First was fewtrils (things of little value), which Chaitra, a 12-year-old who just finished sixth grade in San Francisco, got right. Then retene (a chemical isolated especially from pine tar, rosin oil and various fossil resins but usually prepared from abietic acid), which Zaila got right. And finally neroli oil (a fragrant pale yellow essential oil obtained from flowers chiefly of the sour orange and used especially in cologne and as a flavoring). To learn more go to the line below:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/08/us/scripps-spelling-bee