WORD POWER Move over Spelling Bee

Posted Sep 27, 2006 by Walt Belcher

Updated Sep 27, 2006 at 09:44 AM

  With the popularity of the National Spelling Bee, the GSN network (formerly Game Show Network) has lauched the first-ever ‘NATIONAL VOCABULARY CHAMPIONSHIP’

  The nationwide competition will give high school students a chance to test their vocabulary skills.

  The Winner of Championship Receives $40,000 invested in a “529” Savings Plan

  GSN has partnered with The Princeton Review and hopes to get high students, teachers and parents involved. The National Vocabulary Championship is open to eligible high school students in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

  It will be promoted in schools and through a national “Win With Words” Public Service Announcement campaign. In addition, an interactive website (http://www.winwithwords.com) will offer a variety of free vocabulary-enhancing tools, word games and study materials. 

  Students are invited to enter the first round in one of two ways – by taking an online national qualifying exam or if the student attends a participating school, by taking an in-school qualifying exam to compete for an opportunity to advance to one of eight live citywide competitions.

  Forty-two top scorers from the national qualifying competition and eight winners from the citywide competitions will receive a trip to New York City to participate in the nationally televised National Vocabulary Championship finale in February 2007.

The ultimate winner will receive $40,000 deposited in a higher education “529” savings plan. In total, GSN will award over $100,000 to top-performing students and their schools this year through the program.

  Students who wish to participate in the national qualifying competition can register for the NVC online at http://www.winwithwords.com and choose from one of ten different times from October 27th through November 5th to take the qualifying exam.

Students who attend participating schools in Boston, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, St. Louis and Palm Beach County will have the opportunity to work with in-school “Vocabulary Coaches” in preparation for an in-school qualifying exam, from which approximately 100 students per city will advance to the live competition to be held in those cities. 

For Official Rules and more information about the National Vocabulary Championship and the “Win With Words” Campaign, visit http://www.winwithwords.com. 

Online National Qualifying Exam Dates

The dates and times that students can take the online national qualifying exams are as follows:

Friday, October 27th – 10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST

Saturday, October 28th – 12:00 pm EST/9:00 am PST

Sunday, October 29th – 10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST

Monday, October 30th – 11:00 pm EST/8:00 pm PST

Tuesday, October 31st – 11:30 pm EST/8:30 pm PST

Wednesday, November 1st – 7:00 pm EST/4:00 pm PST

Thursday, November 2nd – 8:00 pm EST/5:00 pm PST

Friday, November 3rd –10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST

Saturday, November 4th – 5:00 pm EST/ 2:00 pm PST

Sunday, November 5th –9:00 pm EST/6:00 pm PST