Spelling Bees

Fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde recently became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. For much of the Bee’s 100-year history, spellers who made it to the elite levels were not a very diverse group. But with the advent of Gen Z, this is changing. Since 2008, every Scripps Bee champion has been a child of color. Northwestern University anthropologist Shalini Shankar says today’s top spellers offer a lot of insight into the rising generation. She’s the author of "Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z’s New Path to Success." (Segment produced by Abby Haralson) (AP Photo/John Raoux)