Critical Thinking Skills Piece

Our lives change as we experience new things. Whether good or bad we continue to grow. The knowledge and wisdom we obtain will change who we are, what goals we set and where we will go with our lives.

Akeelah is a young black girl who struggles with her successes. She is embarrassed by the fact that she is a "brainiac", which the other children call her. Her teacher makes fun of her in front of the other students and then compliments her after school and encourages her. A very confusing message for a young student who could be successful. She doesn't quite know how to accept the fact that she is smarter than the others and doesn't know what to do with it. Akeelah strives to be successful by studying at home. Akeelah knows she needs to go beyond her school and home to get the knowledge to be successful at the spelling bees. She travels to a "white" area to obtain this knowledge. With hard work and perseverance you see her achieve a since of belonging at her new friend's birthday party. She is accepted by him and his friends.

Mr. Larabee becomes her personal spelling coach. When the principal is giving her the information for him she looks at the piece of paper and states "He lives in this neighborhood. I thought you said he was important?" Of course, he is a very important man. But, the area in which she lives is looked down upon by even those who live there. He is highly educated and brings Akeelah to the success of the National Spelling Bee. At first, he doesn't like the way she talks, he considers her language to be "ghetto talk". He states that she needs to come back when she is ready. Akeelah chooses Mr. Larabee for her required summer school. He teaches her how to learn the words and take them apart. He teaches her much more than memorizing words. Their relationship grows as she continues to learn.

I look at the character of Mr. Larabee to be an outsider. He has suffered some great loss in his life with his daughter's death and his wife leaving him. He doesn't quite know where he fits in anymore. He feels his obligation is at home with his garden out of respect for his wife. As he teaches Akeelah you see that he is still grieving but, that there is a change in him as the movie progresses. He sees that he is an important asset to education and that there are students that need him. At the end of the movie he tells Akeelah he will be returning to teaching. This is where he belongs and where he will help others grow.

Akeelah is an outsider in her community for being smart. A community that appears to be very uneducated, dangerous and nontolerant of whites. They rally around the success of this little girl. Their commitment to giving her a sense of belonging, as they all study with her, helps her to be a success in the National Spelling Bee.