Akeelah and the Bee - James W. Ellison [56]
“The training of the schools we need today more than ever—the training of deft hands, quick eyes and ears and above all the broader, deeper, higher culture of gifted minds and pure hearts. The power of the ballot we need in sheer self-defense—else what shall save us from a second slavery? Freedom, too, the long-sought, we shall seek—the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire. Work, culture, liberty—all these we need, not singly but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward that vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of human brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of Race; the ideal of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil two world races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack.”
Akeelah will absorb the wisdom in this book, and my fervent wish is that, no matter what else she does with her life, she will add a chapter of her own to the unending struggle. That is my dream….
There was more, but when I got to the word “dream,” I couldn’t take in any more.
I looked at my father’s photograph. I looked extra hard to see what he was saying to me. “So you were there, Daddy. You were in the auditorium and I know you were proud, but this is only the beginning, right? Is that what you’re telling me? There are other places to go now, other things to do.”
I don’t have to wait for Mama to buy the book. I’ll pick up a copy tomorrow at the library. There’s no time like the present.
About the Writers
In 2000, Doug Atchison won the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his screenplay of Akeelah and the Bee, which he later directed as a feature film for Lionsgate Films. He also co-wrote the screen version of Rebecca Gilman’s award-winning play Spinning into Butter. He graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema/Television and has taught directing and screenwriting at various universities.
James W. Ellison is the author of seven novels published by Doubleday, Little, Brown, and Dodd Mead, including the award-winning I’m Owen Harrison Harding and novelizations including Finding Forrester, Two Brothers, and Rudy. He lives in New York City with his wife Debra, son Owen, and daughter Brett.
You’ve read about Akeelah’s amazing journey to the Scripps National Spelling Bee…
Now you too can organize your own spelling bee—here’s how!
What you will need:
• Small, numbered sheets of paper
• Name tags for the contestants
• Paper, pad, and pens
• A bell
• A 2-minute timer
• A table and some chairs
• A dictionary
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How to prepare your spelling bee:
• Set up a space for the bee by creating rows of chairs for the spellers, a small desk or table for the judges, and chairs for audience members (your parents and friends).
• Place numbered sheets of paper in a hat or a box and have each speller pull out a number. This determines the spelling order.
• Write each speller’s name and number on a name tag. Spellers should then sit in numerical order facing the judges and the audience.
• Place a 2-minute timer, a little bell, and paper, pad, and pens on the judges’ table.
• You will need two judges. Judge #1 will be responsible for reading the word and providing the language of origin and the definition. This judge will also write down the letters as the speller is spelling and check it against the correct spelling. Judge #2 is responsible for watching the 2-minute timer and informing spellers when time has run out.
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Rules for your spelling bee:
• Each speller has