Lanier Middle School in Houston, TX celebrated their December win of the Vocabulary Bowl national leaderboard with a banner dedication ceremony on Friday, January 29. The ceremony included medals to the top performing five students, certificates for teachers, student speeches, raucous applause and cheering, and a feeling of excitement and victory all around.
The Purple Pups certainly had reason to celebrate. They had beaten over 16,000 other schools competing in the Bowl, including neighboring César E. Chavez High School, last year's yearlong champion and so far a frontrunner for 2015-2016.
Lanier Middle School, which enrolls approximately 1,200 students in grades 6-8, joined the Vocabulary Bowl in September, at a time when teachers and administrators were looking for a way to boost reading comprehension by ensuring that even before students encounter a text, they have the vocabulary necessary to understand it.
Assistant Principal Angel Wilson said that right from the start, students loved playing Vocabulary.com, answering questions about words on school computers, at home, and even on their personal phones and tablets on special BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Days at school. "Students love to use technology, so Vocabulary.com is the perfect channel for them. And they really enjoy the competition. That keeps them engaged, so they don't want to just move on to something else."
Safia Khan.
To highlight the competitive aspect, Lanier circulated a list naming the top students in the school on a daily basis, as well as on a flat-screen display in the cafeteria. As their points accrued, Lanier teachers and students realized they were closing in on district rival Chavez. Teacher Janice Kemp stoked the fires in the last crucial week of play with live updates via the Twitter and Instagram accounts of her classroom mascot, Liz the Lizard. Seventh grader Safia Khan recalled in her speech hunkering down for word learning on New Year's Eve, not willing to accept Lanier's 5,000-word lead as a sure thing.
Currently, Lanier is ranked third in the Bowl overall, with Chavez in first. For more highlights from this year's word-learning competition, watch the most recent Vocab Bowl "Top 20" Telecast, featuring our vocab-casters breaking down last month's most exciting plays. And check out our Vocabulary Bowl page to see how to play for your school!