SMS Wordmasters Earn High Honors
Sunrise Middle School Eighth Grade Team Earns Highest Honors in National WordMasters Challenge
A Sunrise Middle School (SMS) eighth-grade team has earned Highest Honors in the 39th annual WordMasters Challenge™, a prestigious national vocabulary competition that serves nearly 125,000 students each year. The SMS team achieved an outstanding 187 points out of a possible 200 during the first of three meets this season, placing 10th in the nation among Gold Division competitors—the most challenging level of the competition.
“This level of achievement speaks volumes about our students’ commitment to learning and their willingness to stretch themselves academically,” said Mark Johnson, Sunrise Middle School Principal. “Competing in the Gold Division against top students from across the country and finishing in the top ten nationally is an accomplishment of which our entire district can be proud.”
Two SMS students, Lillian Borchers and Yifan Huang, earned perfect scores of 20, a distinction achieved by only 79 eighth graders nationwide. Additional SMS team members earning exceptional results include Connor Fines, Ethan Johannesen, Rosemary Lopez-Munoz, and Gabriela Marquez. Students were coached and prepared for the competition by Kiley Bertrand and Amy Hadley.
“Our students consistently demonstrate a willingness to embrace challenges, push beyond their comfort zones, and learn from both successes and setbacks,” said Bertrand. “ They deserve all the credit for this impressive accomplishment, as it is their dedication, persistence, and hard work that drive their growth and success.”
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.
Superintendent Dr. Jason Mundorf praised the students and educators for their accomplishment. “This recognition highlights the strength of our academic programs and the dedication of both our students and staff,” Mundorf said. “Opportunities like the WordMasters Challenge push students beyond grade-level expectations and help prepare them to think deeply, communicate clearly, and succeed in future academic pursuits.”
The WordMasters Challenge™ is administered by a New Jersey-based organization dedicated to inspiring high achievement in schools across the country. More information about the program is available at www.wordmasterschallenge.com.