National Vocabulary Championship
The National Vocabulary Championship (NVC) is the first-ever U.S.-wide vocabulary competition created by GSN, in association with The Princeton Review. 30,000 high school students from across the United States participated in the inaugural year (2006-2007).
The NVC aims to inspire students to expand their vocabularies and narrow the achievement gap. The program offers free educational resources, creates spirited competition through testing and game play, and awards more than $100,000 annually in college tuition and school grants.
Fifty finalists nationally will win a trip to the NVC Finals in March 2008, where they will compete for $40,000 toward college tuition in the form of a 529 plan and to be crowned the National Vocabulary Champion!
How to Compete
The NVC is open to all high school students in the United States who are within the ages of 13 and 19 years old and in grades 9-12. Home schooled students are eligible to compete.
There are two ways to enter the competition:
Eligible students at participating schools in eight local markets can qualify to participate in a Citywide Championship for a chance to win more than $5,000 in scholarships and school grants as well as a trip to the national finals.
Eligible students nationwide may also participate through a National Qualifying Competition via on-line and regional exams offered by The Princeton Review for a chance to compete in the NVC Finals.
Citywide Championships
Eight U.S. cities across the country are chosen each year to host Citywide Championship events. Eligible students who want to compete in one of the local Citywide Championships must attend a participating high school, register with the designated NVC coach at their school, and take the NVC in-school qualifying exam. All public and private high schools within these markets and their surrounding areas are invited to participate and encourage their students to compete. One hundred top scorers per market then qualify to compete in the Citywide Championship, where one winner will receive a $5,000 prize in scholarships and school grants as well as a trip to the national finals.
Below is a list of cities that the NVC will be visiting this year (2007-2008):
Cleveland
Detroit
Nashville
New York City
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Sacramento
St. Louis
National Qualifying Competition
Eligible high school student that do not attend a participating school (listed under Citywide Championship) or do not wish to take the in-school qualifying exam, can compete in the National Qualifying Competition by following the below steps:
Step 1: Online Qualifying Exam
The NVC offers an online qualifying exam during November 2007 at www.winwithwords.com [1]. For months leading up to the online exam, study tools and study modules provided by The Princeton Review are available at www.winwithwords.com.
Step 2: Regional Exam
Top-scoring students on the online qualifying exam have an opportunity to advance to the regional exams, which take place at designated The Princeton Review locations across the country. The top 42 performers on the regional exams then join the eight citywide champions at the national finals.
Champions
The 2006-2007 National Vocabulary Championship was the inaugural year of the competition.
| Year | Winner's Name | Home Town | Grade | Winning Sentence | Winning Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-2007 | Robert Marsland | Madison, Wisconsin | 12th | The hirsute professor maintains that his solipsism stems from a bona fide philosophical conviction rather than excessive narcissism. | Which word comes from the Latin for "alone"?. | solipsism |