First-Ever 'National Vocabulary Championship' Gives High School Students Nationwide an Opportunity to Test Their Vocabulary Knowledge

First-Ever 'National Vocabulary Championship' Gives High School Students Nationwide an Opportunity to Test Their Vocabulary Knowledge

New Nationwide Competition Encourages All Students to 'Win With Words'

Winner of Championship Receives $40,000 Invested in a '529' Savings Plan

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to emphasize the importance of language arts skills and encourage high school students to better prepare for their futures, GSN, the leading interactive television game network, today announced the first-ever National Vocabulary Championship(TM) (NVC). The announcement was made today by Dena Kaplan, Senior Vice President of Marketing, GSN, who conceptualized the cause program and public service campaign, and will oversee the championship and televised finale.

The NVC joins a legacy of legendary education-related competitions -- from "It's Academic" and "Quiz Bowl" to the National Spelling and Geography Bees. Produced by the entertainment network known for original and classic game shows and its educational partner The Princeton Review, the NVC will set the standard for promoting academics in a fun, playful way.

The NVC will contemporize the model set by the traditional competitions by providing students with "real world" tools necessary to comprehend word meanings and help them build an enhanced vocabulary that will assist them in their next stages of life, whether that be college or professional careers.

"Students, teachers, parents, guardians and educators will each play an integral role in the success of this initiative. We created the NVC in the hopes that it will become a cultural phenomenon and get people from all over the country excited about the power of a good vocabulary, and understand that a great vocabulary is the key to their opportunities in life," said Kaplan.

Eligible high school students in the 50 states and the District of Columbia are invited to enter the first round in one of two ways -- by taking an online national qualifying exam or if the student attends a participating school, by taking an in-school qualifying exam to compete for an opportunity to advance to one of eight live citywide competitions. Forty-two top scorers from the national qualifying competition and eight winners from the citywide competitions will receive a trip to New York City to participate in the nationally televised National Vocabulary Championship finale in February 2007. The ultimate winner will receive $40,000 deposited in a higher education "529" savings plan. In total, GSN will award over $100,000 to top-performing students and their schools this year through the program.

"GSN is committed to helping high school educators across the country raise awareness of the importance of language arts in the classroom and is investing in America's future by providing money for college to winning students as well as making learning words fun and relevant in the game of life," added Kaplan.

According to the National Center for Educational Progress, since the early 1990s, national reading scores for 17-year-olds have dropped steadily and consistently across all demographics, with a sharp decline occurring from 1999-2004. Furthermore, the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges reports that more than 50 percent of college freshman cannot write papers without language errors, analyze arguments, or synthesize information.

"The NEA is proud to support GSN and the NVC in its quest to help all children improve their vocabulary skills," said National Education Association President Reg Weaver. "NEA members on the front lines truly understand the benefits of engaging students in an imaginative, fun way."

The Princeton Review, a leading provider of college preparation and educational services, will provide study materials for students, including sample tests, words of the day, NVC-related podcasts of study words and other preparation materials. These materials are available free online at www.winwithwords.com.

"Having taught vocabulary to millions of students through our courses, tutoring, books and podcasts, we're excited to be part of the NVC," said John Katzman, CEO of The Princeton Review. "Normally, I eschew sesquipedalian verbiage, but we'll make an exception."

"Everyone is a winner with this program. Students will learn new word meanings, teachers will be pleased that students are studying, and parents benefit by having their children receive free study materials from The Princeton Review," emphasized Kaplan.

Supporting the NVC is the "Win With Words(TM)" Public Service Announcement Campaign designed to promote the importance of words in our daily lives, whether at school, work or home. Joining the cause are noted celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Bergeron, Jeff Probst, Chuck Woolery, and Shandi Finnessey. These celebrities appear in the "Win With Words" PSAs that began airing in August. The "Win With Words" Campaign also includes a website that features study materials from The Princeton Review.

Students who wish to participate in the national qualifying competition can register for the NVC online at www.winwithwords.com and choose from one of ten different times from October 27th through November 5th to take the qualifying exam. Students who attend participating schools in Boston, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, St. Louis and Palm Beach County will have the opportunity to work with in-school "Vocabulary Coaches" in preparation for an in-school qualifying exam, from which approximately 100 students per city will advance to the live competition to be held in those cities.

Each city event will be sponsored by one or more cable partners in the respective area. Comcast Cable is sponsoring the events in Boston, Detroit, Palm Beach Co., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Sacramento. Charter Communications is the cable partner in St. Louis. Cablevision is a co-sponsor in New York along with Time Warner Cable.

Joining the cable partners as sponsors are Neutrogena, Sony Card, Sharpie, Mead School Supplies, Bolt.com, Friendster.com, TeenFreeway.com and The American Heritage(R) Dictionary, which serves as the official dictionary of the NVC.

GSN has been committed to helping Americans earn money for college for three years with its award-winning Get Schooled Tour. Since its inception, the Get Schooled Tour has contributed a total of over $500,000 in higher education "529" saving plans to over 60 people.

For Official Rules and more information about the National Vocabulary Championship and the "Win With Words" Campaign, visit www.winwithwords.com.

Online National Qualifying Exam Dates

The dates and times that students can take the online national qualifying exams are as follows:

Friday, October 27th - 10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST
Saturday, October 28th - 12:00 pm EST/9:00 am PST
Sunday, October 29th - 10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST
Monday, October 30th - 11:00 pm EST/8:00 pm PST
Tuesday, October 31st - 11:30 pm EST/8:30 pm PST
Wednesday, November 1st - 7:00 pm EST/4:00 pm PST
Thursday, November 2nd - 8:00 pm EST/5:00 pm PST
Friday, November 3rd -10:00 pm EST/7:00 pm PST
Saturday, November 4th - 5:00 pm EST/ 2:00 pm PST
Sunday, November 5th -9:00 pm EST/6:00 pm PST

Citywide Competition Dates

Dates for the citywide competitions are as follows (locations to be announced):

Pittsburgh - Monday, October 30
St. Louis - Thursday, November 2
Boston - Monday, November 13
Philadelphia - Thursday, November 16
Detroit - Monday, November 20
Palm Beach - Monday, November 29
Sacramento - Tuesday, December 5
New York - Thursday, December 13

About the "National Vocabulary Championship"

The National Vocabulary Championship (NVC) is a GSN initiative that uses competition and wordplay to engage and reward high school students, educators and parents, teaching them the value of a strong vocabulary. Created with educational partner The Princeton Review, the NVC is open to eligible high school students in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and will be promoted in schools and through a national "Win With Words" Public Service Announcement campaign. In addition, a robust, interactive website (www.winwithwords.com) will offer a variety of free vocabulary-enhancing tools, word games and study materials.

About GSN

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features over 133 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via GSN.com. Reaching 60 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review (NASDAQ:REVU) is a pioneer in the world of education. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in New York City, the Company offers private tutoring and classroom and online test preparation to help students improve their scores in college and graduate school admissions tests. The Company's free website, www.PrincetonReview.com, helps over half of university-bound students research, apply to, prepare for, and learn how to pay for their higher education, and helps hundreds of colleges and universities streamline their admissions and recruiting activities. In addition, The Princeton Review works with school districts around the U.S. to measurably strengthen students' academic skills by connecting ongoing assessment with professional development and instruction and by providing districts with college and career resources for both students and guidance counselors. The Company also authors more than 200 print and software titles on test preparation, college and graduate school selection and admissions, and related topics.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR PARTICIPATE IN THE NVC. Open only to high school students who are legal residents of the U.S., between the ages of 13 and 19 as of the date of each applicable NVC exam and/or event. Minors in their state of residency must provide written consent from their parent or legal guardian to be eligible to advance to an NVC citywide championship or regional exam. Void where prohibited. Please visit www.winwithwords.com for complete details, including dates of NVC qualifying examinations and events, additional eligibility restrictions and prize descriptions/restrictions.

Source: GSN

CONTACT: Lydia Pelliccia, lydia.pelliccia@widmeyer.com, or Stacey
Finkel, Stacey.finkel@widmeyer.com, both of Widmeyer Communications,
+1-202-667-0901, for GSN; or Cindy Ronzoni, +1-310-255-6933, cronzoni@gsn.com,
or Deborah McBride, +1-310-255-6938, dmcbride@gsn.com, both of GSN; or Harriet
Brand of The Princeton Review, +1-212-874-8282, ext. 1091,
harrietb@review.com

Web site: http://www.winwithwords.com/
/Web site: http://www.princetonreview.com/
/Web site: http://corp.gsn.com/

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