![]() Their exuberant smiles and excitement as they conquered their words was a beautiful sight to witness.” Their intensity as they fielded words showed each speller’s fierce determination. The spellers who participated were phenomenal. Linda Tarrant, President of Hexco said, “Our Hexco team enjoyed every moment working with the Kaplan team to plan and execute this event. These spellers have worked so hard for a chance to demonstrate their skills, which is why we were glad to work with Hexco to give them this opportunity.” “We also couldn’t be prouder of all of the spellers, as this was an incredibly talented, impressive group. “It was a hard-fought, well-deserved win for an inspiring young woman, and we couldn’t be happier for Zaila,” said Dan Strafford, Kaplan’s senior manager of new media, who produced the event. ![]() All three win free enrollments in Kaplan pre-college test prep courses as well. With the win, Zaila takes home $10,000 and a championship trophy. ![]() An avid reader whose heroes include Malala Yousafzai, Serena Williams and Coco Gauff, Zaila hopes to become an archaeologist one day and also aspires to play in the WNBA. Zaila holds the Guinness World Record title for “the most bounce juggles in one minute,” which earned her a performance with the legendary Harlem Globetrotters and a cameo in a Steph Curry Under Armour commercial. Not only is the newly crowned spelling champion a wiz with words - she’s a wiz on the basketball court as well. But mostly I’d just sit at my desk - turn on a podcast, an old-time radio show, or some music - and study words as fast and as carefully as I could via the help of many different spelling resources.” “I’d study wherever and whenever I could - whether it was while I was eating breakfast, riding in the car, or even while I was on a short break during basketball practice. That hard work included “a minimum of about 5 or 6 hours a day to study despite having a bunch of other stuff to do,” Zaila said. After that, I just felt a great sense of relief knowing that all of my hard work had led to the best possible outcome.” Upon winning, she admitted to being “kind of confused for a second - I guess because I was a little shocked that I’d won. Even If I hadn’t won I would have been super proud of myself just for making it to the finals.” To be able to compete against so many of the top spellers in the country was definitely a great experience. The level of talent in the competition made her experience particularly rewarding, Zaila noted, saying, “There were so many great spellers in the bee. Chaitra Thummala, a 5th grader from San Ramon, CA, placed third. ![]() Zaila’s preternatural poise as she confidently spelled words like ‘yponomeutid’ and ‘haraes’ impressed the judges, as did her speedy style. The 2019 New Orleans regional spelling champion won with the word “Qashqai” (a migratory Turkic-speaking people of the Zagros mountains), after a hard-fought back-and-forth with runner-up Harini Logan, a 6th grader from San Antonio, TX. (Business News Wire) - After six days, 18 hours, and 504 words delivered through 31 rounds of spelling, 13 year old Zaila Avant-Garde, a 7th grader from Harvey, LA, beat out 88 of the best young spellers in the country to win the first ever Kaplan Online Spelling Bee, hosted over the weekend in association with Hexco Academic. ![]()
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