Several teams representing Ridgefield Academy achieved Highest Honors in the recent WordMasters Challenge™—a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 125,000 students annually. The sixth-grade team scored an impressive 192 points out of a possible 200 in the second of three meets this year, placing sixth in the nation. In addition, the seventh-grade team scored 182 points, finishing seventh nationwide. The eighth-grade team also captured seventh place with a score of 156 points.

Competing in the difficult Blue Division of the WordMasters Challenge™, fourth-grader Atlas G.; sixth-graders Catherine F., Sebastian H., Nishad K., and William R.; and seventh-graders Minho C. and Ada G. each earned a perfect score of 20 on the challenge. Nationally, only 41 fourth graders, 53 sixth graders, and 30 seventh graders achieved this result.

Other students from Ridgefield Academy who achieved outstanding results in the meet include: fifth-graders Colin C., Siyana F., Thomas H., Brayden M., and Winter P.; sixth-graders Olivia H., Charlotte M., David S., and Sawyer S.; seventh-graders Max B., Jonathan P., and Aliya W.; and eighth-grader Brooks C. Ridgefield Academy students were coached in preparation for the WordMasters Challenge™ by Stacy Hynes (Grade 4), Jenna Rubin (Grades 5-6), and Patricia Carrington (Grades 7-8).

The WordMasters Challenge™ is an exercise in critical thinking that first encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting new words (considerably harder than grade level), and then challenges them to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of logical relationships. Working to solve the analogies helps students learn to think both analytically and metaphorically. Although most vocabulary enrichment and analogy-solving programs are designed for use by high school students, WordMasters Challenge™ materials have been specifically created for younger students in grades three through eight. They are particularly well suited for children who are motivated by the challenge of learning new words and enjoy the logical puzzles posed by analogies.

Administered by a New Jersey–based educational organization committed to fostering academic excellence, the WordMasters Challenge™ continues to inspire high achievement in schools nationwide. Learn more at www.wordmasterschallenge.com.