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For local homeschool student Zwe Spacetime, winning first place at The 91��ý��Ƭ�� Informer’s 43rd annual Citywide Spelling Bee was as easy as spelling pinafore, status quo, and, before that, a bevy of other multisyllabic words.  

But what others described as a flawless victory, Zwe called a strong embrace of the English language, which he said stemmed, in part, from writing short stories under his father’s watchful eye and reading Peter Trudgill’s “The Long Journey of English.” 

“It’s a book about…how English evolved over the centuries from a kind of simple language that was only spoken by a few hundred people in England,” said Zwe, a seventh grader who attends Louis Armstrong Homeschool. “Today, almost everyone speaks English. A lot [of English] words come from different languages. I wonder how it became what it is today, especially the variety like American English, African American vernacular English, et cetera.” 

On March 15, Zwe bested 27 other elementary and middle-school aged spellers during more than two hours of competition that, at one point, came to a standstill with no spellers getting eliminated for at least five rounds. 

By the time the competition winnowed down to Zwe, Nora Baker of BASIS DC Public Charter School and Bianca Curry of Alice Deal Middle School, judges had to tap into words not found in the spelling bee rolls. 

Even so, Zwe held out a little longer, solidifying his spot during the 19th round, which forced Nora and Bianca to endure another round of competition for their placement. 

Within a matter of weeks, Zwe will represent the District at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where his older sister,  Zaila Avant-garde, made history in 2021 as the first-ever African-American spelling bee champion. 

While he expressed deep appreciation for the foundation his older sister laid, Zwe said he looked forward to making history in his own way, especially as Scripps observes a critical milestone. 

“I get to see what Scripps has planned for the 100th anniversary,” Zwe said. “I am preparing [by] learning words and trying to get one or two hours [a day] practicing. Just going to the computer screen and [practicing] the words.” 

Zwe called his study regimen part of a schedule that he’s taken on as a student at Louis Armstrong Homeschool. 

For the last three years, he has sat alongside his younger and older brothers as they practice foundational concepts and complete special projects, including a collection of short stories. No matter where Zwe travels across the District, he can be found with a book in hand, as was the case on March 15 when he and his father waited for the citywide bee to start. 

Despite what others might consider a unique life, Zwe that he’s no different than any of his peers. 

“I go to school like every other kid,” Zwe said. “I wake up, eat my breakfast, do my math and, also, I have a typewriter where I write all my winter stories on my own.” 

A Fight to Foster Literacy in the District 

For another year, The 91��ý��Ƭ�� Informer, in collaboration with , , , , and , among other entities, hosted a citywide spelling bee taped at the . 

Participants, who represented several District public, public charter and private schools, advanced to the citywide bee after winning school-level spelling bees, as well as cluster bees that took place at THEARC earlier this year.  

On March 15, each student stood at the podium as they spelled words that pronouncer David Zahren gave them. Spelling bee judges Jason Moore, Dr. Elizabeth Primas, and Dr. Helen Behr listened intently for misspellings, while Maweuna De-Souza addressed a student’s challenge of an elimination. 

OCTFME Director LaToya Foster and Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The 91��ý��Ƭ�� Informer and chair of 91��ý��Ƭ�� Informer Charities, opened the citywide bee with remarks, while DCPS Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee supported students as an audience member. 

Ferebee’s visit to OCTFME happened weeks after the release of national testing data that showed fourth graders in the District making the highest gains among their peers nationally in the realm of math. It also took place amid the Trump administration’s decimation of the federal workforce, which, in addition to a House continuing resolution, threatens the District’s economic future. 

Regardless, Ferebee spoke to the power of spelling bees to help DCPS, and other local education agencies, advance literacy goals.  

“We want our students to be great readers,” Ferebee told The Informer. “Vocabulary obviously helps, which is related to spelling, and the competitions at the school level [and] the cluster level allow us to give all of our students this experience, which I think is really helpful.”

He emphasized the bees help build students for academic achievement and beyond.

“It encourages them to read, but the more they know about our great city, our world, it allows them to be stronger in these types of competition,” he said. ”It allows them to be great students in the classroom, but more importantly, a leader for us.” 

Nora Baker Reflects on a Long Competition

By the fourth round of the citywide bee, more than half of the participants had been eliminated by the likes of: chortle; manifest; constabulary; pashmina, and pugilist. 

As the bee went on, eliminations became less frequent. By the 11th round, Zwe, Nora, and Bianca remained standing. For the next eight rounds, each of them confidently, and without hesitation, spelled words that Zahran threw at them. That was until Nora and Bianca came across phlegmy, an adjective related to thick respiratory mucus, and melange, a noun that describes a melody.  

For Nora, the bee went to the next level when spelling bee officials, as she called it, went off the books. 

“I was surprised that the competition had been lasting this long,” said Nora, a seventh grader at Basis D.C. Public Charter School. “I realized that my competitors were really good.”

Last year, Nora came second to Noah Rowe, then an eighth grader at MacFarland Middle School in Northwest. In preparation for this year’s bee, Nora studied more than 4,000 words during study sessions that lasted half an hour per night for seven months.

That regimen, she said, allowed her to outlast most of her peers on March 15. 

“I was so proud of myself because I did the best I possibly could,” Nora said. “I studied that list and I didn’t get a single word wrong until they went off of it.”

Though she admitted feeling disappointed by the outcome, she gave homage to Zwe, who she said demonstrated an appetite for victory in the cluster bees. 

“I already could tell that he was going to be one of my competitors,” Nora told The Informer. “When I found out his sister won the national spelling bee a couple years ago, I knew he wants to study really hard and he deserves to win, no doubt.” 

With academic interests that include math and physics, Nora said she wants to pursue an engineering career. For now, she has her sights set on her last year of spelling bee eligibility as she gears up to continue a journey that, as she recounted, started during her fifth grade year at BASIS DC PCS when her father gave her some encouraging words.    

“He really pushed me to do this and he has always been a big supporter, no matter what,” Nora said about her father. “He knew that I was into competition. He got me into the idea of the spelling bee.”

BASIS DC PCS, Nora added, played just as significant a role in fostering her desire for excellence. 

“Those are the values I align with,” Nora said. “Their structure has helped fuel that with the environment. It helped me get into that competitive mindset.” 

Bianca Curry: A Speller with Life Goals

As a third-place citywide spelling bee winner, and two-time participant, Bianca Curry said she’s carving out her niche.

“I have a reputation for being that girl who’s good at spelling words,” Bianca told The Informer. “ It’s really fun and it’s something I can add to my list of extracurriculars when I’m applying to high school.”

In 2023, while a fifth grader at Janney Elementary School in Northwest, Bianca advanced to the citywide spelling bee, where she suffered defeat in the early rounds. 

A year later, on her second attempt, Bianca got eliminated at her school bee. Both experiences, she said, informed, and even, inspired what she described as a winner’s mindset.   

“I reminded myself that I was just going to do my best and that’s the best that anyone can do,” Bianca told The Informer. “It’s important to be able to stay calm, even when you have something difficult, such as a word that you’re not sure that you can spell.” 

In preparation for this year’s citywide bee, Bianca used the Word Club app and practiced with her mother for hours at a time. She said she also relied on word roots she learned as a sixth grader and her lifelong love of reading that often manifests in her acquisition of new words via movie subtitles. 

“Everywhere I look, I’m reading something,” said Bianca, who counts Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” and the “Hunger Games” series among the books she’s currently reading. “Because I read so much, I know a lot of words already. Knowing all the words in a spelling bee has also helped me when reading because I’m able to understand so much more now.” 

With academic and career interests that include psychology, linguistics, and screenwriting, Bianca said she’s taken lessons from the citywide spelling bee that can help her along her academic and professional journey. 

“You have to make a goal for yourself,” Bianca said. “It’s very important in my educational life and probably onward in life to be able to study for something, to be able to read something or learn about something and be able to comprehend it and then be able to tell others about that thing. Being consistent and disciplining yourself can help you in life with your ability to build stamina.“