News

First African American to Win National Spelling Bee Overwhelmed With Scholarship Offers

Zaila Avant-Garde, a 14-year old from Harvey, Louisiana, has made history as the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Since then, universities from all across the country have been offering her full-ride scholarships.

Zaila won the historic championship after correctly spelling the word “Murraya,” a type of tree, in the final round. She bested 208 contestants from 5 countries. Soon thereafter, Zaila began receiving full-ride scholarships one after another.

Southern University President Ray L. Belton took to Twitter, “I am pleased to announce that @Southernu_BR is offering #ZailaAvantgarde a full scholarship and “#Zaila Day” at SU, part of the nation’s only #HBCU system. Our student leaders, faculty, and alumni look forward to meeting with you. We welcome you to the #JaguarNation!”

Louisiana State University President William Tate also wrote on Twitter, “Zaila Avant-garde @basketballasart performed at the highest level in the National Spelling Bee. Your academic performance reflected scholarship first! You modeled intellectual excellence. @LSU_Honors awaits. I write to offer you a full scholarship to attend LSU. Here for you!”

Louisiana Community and Technical College System posted on its Facebook page, “In celebration of her incredible performance at the National Spelling Bee, LCTCS is proud to offer Zaila Avant-garde a full scholarship to any Louisiana community and technical college. We believe our programs, such as aerospace technology, would be a great fit for you,”

Meanwhile, Zaila, who also holds 3 Guinness World Records for her basketball skills, expressed her interest to attend Harvard University to play college basketball. She plans to pursue a career in Neuroscience or Gene Editing. She says wants to either work for NASA one day or play for the  NBA.

Related Posts

Top NATO chief urges leaders to get ready for ‘wartime scenario’ after Putin ‘threatens WWIII’ as Germany draws up list of bunkers that could be used as emergency shelters

A top NATO chief has urged business leaders to begin preparing for a ‘wartime scenario’ following rising tensions across the world. The warning comes as Germany announced it was drawing up a list of bunkers and other underground facilities that could provide shelter for civilians in the event of an attack. Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer warned that NATO members needed to adjust their production and distribution lines in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.

Stars round on Ed Sheeran over Band Aid row: Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley tells the singer to ‘shut up’ as record producer Trevor Horn says he would have ‘gladly not used him’

Stars have turned on Ed Sheeran in the escalating row over the new Band Aid single – with Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley telling him to ‘shut up’. Trevor Horn, producer of a fresh 40th anniversary version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, has also been critical of Sheeran after the singer spoke out against the new version of the charity track. Sheeran revealed last week he would have preferred his vocal contributions from a 2014 recording were not used on the new version.

Drunk student son writes off his millionaire dad’s £350k Aston Martin by flipping into a field on joyride

A millionaire’s £350,000 Aston Martin has been written off after his drunk university son flipped it whilst taking it for an illicit 4am spin. Will Gould, 20, lost control of the 211mph DBS V12 and overturned the supercar into a field when he barely got 800 yards from his £2.4million family farm. At the time his father Colin, a 50-year-old farmer, was away on business and had no idea about his son’s jaunt until he got home.

‘She will never breathe for herself, taste food or hug her son again’: Father reveals how his daughter is quadriplegic needing 24-hour care after teen smashed into her as he filmed himself driving with no hands

A single mother who worked as a fitness instructor has been left quadriplegic and needing round-the-clock care after a teenage driver ploughed into her while he filmed himself at the wheel. George Taylor made two calls, sent text messages and recorded five videos showing him driving a Volkswagen Golf at speed and overtaking other vehicles while using his knees on his steering wheel, when he crashed into Catherine Davies. Taylor, from Stretham, Cambridgeshire, had held his licence for less than 12 weeks when he used his mobile ‘throughout the journey’ to college on the A47 near Norwich in January last year.

Trump to take drastic action against Canada, Mexico and China to stop the border ‘invasion’ and issues an ultimatum

President-elect Donald Trump threatened Monday to slap a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods as long as the countries allowed immigrants to flow over the U.S. border. He also said he’d impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods over the Chinese government’s refusal to make good on a promise to use the death penalty on drug dealers. These actions, Trump said, would take place on the first day of his administration.

Why I started the petition for another General Election: ‘Fed up’ pub landlord reveals what sparked viral campaign to get rid of Labour – as map shows how many people near you are part of the 2million to sign

The man behind a viral petition demanding a General Election has revealed why he started – as it clocks over more than 2.5million signatures. Pub landlord Michael Westwood said he decided to launch the petition having seen Keir Starmer and his MPs go back on their manifesto promises and repeatedly talk down the prospects for the country. The poorly received budget from Rachel Reeves that saw employers hit with an increase in national insurance tax was a key factor in his decision to launch the petition.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *