I think I remember seeing this one back in the day randomly on TV. Now I'm seeing it air on FLIXe channel. It's inspiring for young middle school viewers. Some parts reminded me of myself when I was that young, how sometimes strict parents tend to be unsupportive of what we do, and being one of the best spellers in my class. While Akeelah's rhythm has to do with keeping time, my little thing that I did was count my fingers. My 6th grade class thought I was weird when I did that. So when the next big word came, and I didn't use my fingers due to previous embarrassment, I misspelled it; completely lost my rhythm. There's a lesson to be learned from that.
Anyway, there's a familiar cast here. Every time I see Laurence Fishburne, I kept thinking Morpheus from _The Matrix_ (1999). I also remember Lee Thompson Young, who was Jett Jackson/Silverstone, and had sadly passed away some years ago. It's nice to see the soulful support Akeelah received from her neighborhood and community.