The Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge is an annual vocabulary competition in the United States for youth in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade. It is sponsored by Reader's Digest magazine.
Contents
School
Competition begins at a school level. Typically, teachers give students 25-question multiple-choice tests. Classroom winners then compete with other classroom winners from the same grade to determine the school-wide grade-level champion. The school champion then takes a multiple-choice test which determines the top 100 students in the state.
State
The top 100 students are invited to state competition. There they are given 25 multiple-choice questions to determine the top ten. The top ten then go through a few rounds of questions to determine the state champion. The state champion gets to advance to National competition.
National
Students from every state, Washington, D.C., and one student from a Department of Defense school get to compete at the national level. The students take a 25-question multiple-choice test, with the top ten scorers going on to compete in a nationally televised event. The moderator is a celebrity and in the past has usually been Al Roker.
Prizes
Current status
In 2007, the RDNWPC website stated that the competition would not be held for the 2007-2008 year. The Reader's Digest website no longer mentions the RDNWPC.