America's Premier Vocabulary Competition To Feature Math, Science and Technology Content

NASA and The Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge announced a partnership to improve science literacy in America by integrating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) vocabulary into the nation's premier vocabulary competition: the Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge. This year's competition took place in Orlando, Florida. A television special based on the National Word Power Challenge will be broadcast on NBC stations this summer, hosted by Al Roker of NBC's Today Show.

Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge editors collaborated with NASA to develop science-themed questions, such as "What is the derivation of the word astronaut?" The integration of STEM terminology into the country's leading literacy competition enlivened the program with fresh new topics and introduced those subject areas to an even greater number of young learners. More than two million students participated in this year's Word Power Challenge, which awarded $50,000 in college scholarships.

"NASA continues to look for new initiatives to cultivate future explorers and innovators," said Assistant Administrator for Education Joyce Winterton. "Partnering with Reader's Digest is ideal because programs like the Word Power Challenge present science and math concepts in a friendly, accessible format for students."

"In today's highly competitive world, students need to be able to communicate effectively across a wide variety of subjects," said Kathleen Bordelon, executive director of the Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge. "Our partnership with NASA, a national leader in scientific innovation, extends the Word Power Challenge across the curriculum."

A powerful vocabulary provides students with a foundation for success while in school and later in the professions of their choice. The partnership between Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge and NASA will benefit students by exposing them to exciting mathematical concepts and scientific terminology. It will also help them develop stronger language skills useful for decoding instructions, comprehending word problems, performing research and describing their work which will enhance their career opportunities as well as their ability to develop and understand public policy. Both organizations will provide access to post vocabulary quizzes on their respective websites that will highlight space exploration and the history of aeronautics.

The Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge

Based on the popular "Word Power" column in Reader's Digest magazine, the most widely read magazine in the world, the Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge is an educational outreach program of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Over two million students compete in the nation's premier vocabulary competition.

For more information, please visit http://www.wordpowerchallenge.com/.

Website: http://www.rd.com/

Website: http://www.wordpowerchallenge.com/