Community Corner

Greenport's National Scrabble Association Hosts Competition

Kids will compete for a $10,000 top prize.

Can you spell e-x-c-i-t-e-m-e-n-t?

That's the word of the day as 86 teams of fourth through eighth graders gets ready to head to Washington, D.C. for the 2013 National School Scrabble Championship, hosted by Greenport's National Scrabble Association.

The kids will compete over two days for the $10,000 top prize.

Locally, a team from Hampton Bays will take place in the competition. Hampton Bays Middle School students Riley Kangas, 7th grade, and Domenico Pensa III, 6th grade, will attend. The pair will be coached by Kathy Hummel.

The event will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. May 3 through 4. 

All contestants will play in teams of two. Ranging in age from nine to 14, the kids have been ranked some of the nation's top Scrabble players; some go on to play against adults in rated Scrabble tournaments and the annual National Scrabble Championship. 

This year’s championship will have more than 15 students with an official North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) rating.

The School Scrabble Program has been praised as an being an innovative teaching tool that has helped over a million kids in over 20,000 schools nationwide with spelling, vocabulary, math, dictionary use and more.

Play begins at 2:00 p.m. with three rounds on Friday, May 3 and will continue all day Saturday, May 4.  Finals will begin at approximately 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, and will be followed by the awards ceremony.


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