Welcome to AANSBC!

The mission of the African American National Spelling Bee Championships, Inc. (AANSBC) is to offer opportunities to African-American students to learn decoding and spelling techniques and to compete with their peers in organized spelling bees to foster improved literacy, language development, reading and writing skills.  

The vision of AANSBC is for every African-American student to become fully literate by mastering reading, writing and spelling.  

The AANSBC, a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2010, was a vision from God given to Houston businessman Robert L. Garner, Jr.  While watching an annual Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, his granddaughter pointed out that none of the contestants looked like her.  Thereafter, he made it his mission to find a way to provide an opportunity for more underserved students to learn more about spelling and compete in competitions to improve their spelling, reading and writing levels.  

After a trip to Cincinnati to meet with Scripps’ then-Executive Director, Paige Kimble, it was even more evident that the organization did not see it the way Mr. Garner did. It was not his intention to compete with the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but to begin grassroot efforts to ensure that every child had access to resources to become a better reader, writer, speller, and a better person.

Get in touch with us to learn more about AANSBC. and how to bring the spelling bee to your community.