IUPUI to Host Reader’s Digest Word Power Challenge Competition

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will host the state-level competition of the Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge on Friday, March 10, 2006.

The Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge is a vocabulary contest designed for schools nationwide for students in grades four through eight.

One hundred and four students in grades six through eight will compete at the Indiana state-level competition. The first round of the competition will be held in ten breakout sessions. The final round will be a competition between the top ten students from the first round. Chris Wright, the SkyTrak Weather anchor from WTHR Channel 13, will host the final competition.

To make it to the state-level competition, these students competed in classroom and grade-level competitions. The first-place winner of the state-level event will go on to the national competition in Orlando, Florida where they will compete against students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools for scholarships of up to $25,000.

The Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge is an educational outreach program of Reader's Digest magazine. Reader's Digest provides the questions and answers for the contest at all levels. Questions address the subject of vocabulary in a variety of question formats. Some questions require a straight definition; others require knowledge of a word's antonym or its proper use in a sentence. Students may be asked questions about words derived from other languages and words categorized by different themes or topics. Answers may be requested in writing and/or orally.

Note to Media: The first round of competition is scheduled to start at 9:30 am in Cavanaugh Hall, 425 University Boulevard. The final round of competition is scheduled to start at 12:00 pm in Lecture Hall Room 101, 325 University Boulevard.