These Kids Spell It 'K-A-T' - And It's Correct!

GREENPORT, N.Y., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Maybe you're smarter than a fifth grader, but chances are these kids know hundreds of more words than you do. They are middle school students – grades 5-8 – from all over the US and Canada who will vie for the $10,000 top prize at the annual National School SCRABBLE® Championship (NSSC) at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Florida. Among the obscure words they've studied are: KAT (a variation of QAT, a South American shrub), ZA (slang for pizza) and XYST (a area where athletes trained in ancient Greece).

"These competitors represent the cream of the crop from our National School SCRABBLE® Program," says National SCRABBLE® Association Executive Director, John D. Williams Jr. Praised by parents and educators alike, the program has seen over a million kids participate in over 20,000 schools nationwide and is an innovative teaching tool that helps kids with spelling, vocabulary, math, dictionary use and more. "Kids are learning, and they don't even know it!" Williams adds.

The 2010 NSSC will feature 100 teams of two who play six preliminary rounds over two days, followed by a final match. Many of these student competitors will go on to play – and often defeat – adults at the National SCRABBLE® Championship in Dallas in August. Defending champions are sixth-graders Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado of Apex, North Carolina.

To learn more and see a 4-minute video of last year's championship, go to www.schoolscrabble.com.  Live, on-line coverage of this year's event will also be available at the site. Finals will be approximately 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 10th, followed by the Awards Ceremony.

SOURCE National SCRABBLE Association