RENO, Nev. (Video: KTVN via CNN) —

A 13-year-old girl from Nevada is one of the latest COVID-19 vaccine lottery winners.

Kaylee, an 8th-grade student, told KTVN she was trying to do the right thing by getting her shot before a summer camp.

"We were going to be traveling and a couple weeks after the vaccine came out and we were going to be flying and seeing tons of family and we didn't want to have to worry about COVID at the same time," she said.

Kaylee didn't know was that she'd been automatically entered in the "Vax Nevada Days," a program offering cash, scholarships and other prizes for people who got the vaccine.

Then, she found out she was a winner.

At first, Kaylee's mom thought she received a spam call but was able to verify the good news on the state's website.

"It feels good, it makes me feel comfortable about getting ready to go to college and my future," Kaylee said.

Nevada's vaccine lottery program is still running through Aug. 26, when the $1 million grand prize will be announced.

Aside from the potential to win like she did, Kaylee said she hopes others get vaccinated.

"Definitely get the vaccine because, like I said, it's free and it just takes so little time for such a big event," she said.

AKRON, Ohio — Last week, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde became the first African-American winner of the National Spelling Bee, taking home the trophy after correctly spelling the word "murraya." The moment was exciting and groundbreaking, but also stirred up the history behind the journey leading up to the moment that should always be remembered.

Back in 1936, just 11 years after the National Spelling Bee was inaugurated, 13-year-old MacNolia Cox from Akron was a spelling prodigy with an IQ through the roof.

Cox had qualified for the National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C., but her journey to get there wasn't easy, nor was her time competing in the bee.

With segregation and Jim Crow laws still very much in full swing, Cox and another Black child, 15-year-old Elizabeth Kenny from New Jersey, were forced to travel to the National Spelling Bee in the "colored" car of the train, were unable to stay at the hotel with the other contestants, had to use the back door of the arena to get into the bee and were forced to sit at a card table once inside.

Still, despite the hardships she faced, Cox went on to become the first African-American finalist in the Top Five and was on her way to victory, having extensively studied the 100,000-word list given to every speller in the bee.

Cox overcame the obstacles in her way but could not get past the hatred in the hearts of the judges, who were all white southerners and had seen enough from the young Black girl from Akron.

A. Van Jordan, author of "M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A," said that what happened next was a despicable move from the bee's judges.

"They pulled a word that was not on that list, and you can't make this up: the word was nemesis," Van Jordan said.

The word had just moved into popular vernacular and was at the time most defined as the Greek goddess of retribution—a proper noun that should have been an ineligible word—but the judges argued that the word could be used as a common noun.

Cox misspelled the unapproved word and was eliminated from the bee.

The young girl, with dreams of becoming a doctor, was limited by the era she lived in. She became a domestic for a doctor and at the age of 53 died from cancer.

Cox faced numerous hardships in her life, one which took place on the grand stage of the 1936 National Spelling Bee. But her hardships now serve as a reminder of where we once where and where we've come to be—with Zaila being crowned the Spelling Bee champion, bringing Cox's trailblazing full-circle all these years later.

"When you see young people, you really have to encourage them. Something that may happen at that stage of their life can be indelible and can change the course of their life," Van Jordan said.

Now indelible is the moment Zaila provided with her win and how it prompts us all to remember the moments that came before—and the people, like Cox, who paved the way. And for the newest National Spelling Bee champ, she said MacNolia Cox was in her thoughts the night she won it all.

This story was originally published by Rob Powers and Camryn Justice at WEWS.

CINCINNATI —

A family is broken after a 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death in Winton Hills.

The teen's father said the pain is immeasurable and described her as the glue that held them all together.

Investigators said the teen was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital where she died after the stabbing Monday night.

"I held her. I watched her as she died. I watched her, you know. All I could do was just hold her, hold her," Maurice Jackson said.

Devastation, heartache and loss are all emotions that Jackson, Nyaira Givens' father, is feeling after her sudden death.

"I tried. I tried to stop the bleeding," Jackson said.

There are so many feelings he cannot escape, and many people wouldn't be able to either, after the loss of a child.

Cincinnati police said Givens was stabbed to death by another 13-year-old girl during a fight near the family's home on Topridge Place.

Prayers on Tuesday evening helped ease the heartache, but just barely.

"Just tried my best to protect her and be the father I could be, you know? I guess I didn't pay attention to all the other stuff that was going on around her," Jackson said.

He said his daughter was the second oldest of seven children.

He also said she helped keep the family together and loved school.

Jackson told WLWT his daughter was a freshman at Aiken High School and went to school with the girl who stabbed her.

He said they were "on and off friends," but that his daughter was being bullied.

Community leaders call the scene "tragic."

"Learn how to solve problems, one towards another, because just because you're mad at somebody doesn't mean that their life has to be taken because of that," Cincinnati Police God Squad Rev. Alvin Scales said.

A 13-year-old's life was stolen this time and it has left a family broken.

"The pain I'm feeling right now, it's just, I can't explain it. It's very unexplainable. She should be burying me. I shouldn't be burying her," Jackson said.

Givens' father said she was smart, mature and wanted to be a hairstylist.

He said she wanted to bring beauty to the world.

Police said the 13-year-old suspect is being held at the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center and is due in court on Wednesday by Zoom.

She faces a murder charge.