Metro Classical and Academic High School's Noah Berman Wins the First-Ever 'National Vocabulary Championship' St. Louis Competition

Metro Classical and Academic High School's Noah Berman Wins the First-Ever 'National Vocabulary Championship' St. Louis Competition

Berman Outperforms 88 Other Top Vocabulary Scholars and Wins $5,000 Toward a Higher Education Savings Plan and Qualifies to Compete in February at the National Vocabulary Championship Finals in New York

Local Dignitaries in Attendance Included U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan, Chief Academic Officer Mulugheta Teferi and School Board Member Donna Jones

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Noah Berman, a 15-year-old sophomore at Metro Classical and Academic High School in St. Louis, outperformed 88 other local vocabulary high school scholars tonight, winning the first-ever NVC St. Louis Citywide Championship. As the local champion, Berman earned $5,000 toward a "529" higher education savings plan and qualifies to compete in the "National Vocabulary Championship" finals in New York City on February 26, 2007.

The National Vocabulary Championship is a nationwide educational initiative conceived by television network GSN that aims to promote the importance of vocabulary skills in school, at work and at play. Along with its educational partner, The Princeton Review, the NVC is hosting eight citywide events prior to the New York City finals. The finals will feature Berman as he competes head-to-head with 49 other students from around the country to win $40,000 toward a "529" higher education savings plan and be named the "National Vocabulary Champion."

Tonight's live event, sponsored by Charter Communications, was held at the Missouri Historical Society in the Des Lee Auditorium and featured 89 high school students aged between 13-and-19 from the following local schools: Beaumont, Blow Preparatory, Carnahan, Central, Cleveland, Clyde Miller, Gateway IT, Gateway Math & Science, Griscom, Madison Alternative, Metro Classical and Academic, Roosevelt 9th, Roosevelt, Soldan, Stowe, Sumner 9th, Sumner, Transportation & Law Academy, Williams 9th Grade Academy and Yeatman/Liddell Preparatory.

On hand lending support to the event were such dignitaries as U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan, Chief Academic Officer Mulugheta Teferi and School Board Member Donna Jones.

Regarding the NVC being in St. Louis, Rep. Carnahan remarked in his opening comments, "We (St. Louis) just finished the World Series of baseball, and now we get to have the World Series of words."

Berman sealed his victory by correctly answering nine of the ten final round questions in the fastest time -- one minute and 13 seconds. The final round featured NVC host Dylan Lane, who also serves as host of GSN's television series "Chain Reaction," reading different paragraphs to the last seven competitors. The final contestants answered a myriad of questions involving specific words in their respective paragraphs. The questions focused on synonyms, antonyms and definitions. The contestant who responded with the most correct answers in the shortest period of time under the two-minute time limit was the winner. The runner-up to tonight's contest was Molly Sievert, a 17 year-old senior also from Metro Classical and Academic High School. Sievert answered nine questions correctly in one minute and 54 seconds.

Said Berman on his winning performance, "I've been reading a lot since I was three and that's how I pick up words." On the competition, he commented, "Everyone in that last group was really smart. And I was pretty nervous there for a while." Berman was coached for the event by Elizabeth Chambers, a teacher at Metro Classical and Academic High School, who was in attendance tonight cheering on her participating students.

"GSN is taking the NVC across the country to raise awareness of the importance of language arts in the classroom," said Dena Kaplan, Senior Vice President of Marketing, GSN. "We're investing in America's future by providing money for college to winning students as well as making vocabulary fun and relevant in the game of life. We are thrilled that we will be seeing Noah Berman at the national finals in February."

Charter has lent support since August by airing "Win with Words" public service announcements. Celebrities Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Probst, Tom Bergeron and others joined the network in filming these PSAs that encourage high school students to expand their vocabulary and, in turn, their opportunities in life.

"We're thrilled to be able to bring this program to St. Louis students," commented Steve Trippe, Vice President & General Manager, Charter Communications. "Charter has a strong commitment to this community, and we hope it shows through enriching programs like the National Vocabulary Championship."

St. Louis students who do not attend a participating high school may still participate by taking an online exam to qualify for the "National Vocabulary Championship" finals in New York. Students can register and take the national qualifying online test at predetermined times now through November 5th. Log on to www.winwithwords.com for more information.

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.

About "Win with Words(TM)"

GSN's Win with Words public service campaign is designed to promote the importance of vocabulary skills in one's life no matter the age. Words play an important part in education, careers, communication and even being a contestant on a game show. The Win with Words campaign includes study materials, words of the day, and other elements that improve language arts year-long. These educational features can be found on the website www.winwithwords.com. Celebrities who appeared in the Win with Words(TM) public service announcements include Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Bergeron, Jeff Probst, Chuck Woolery and Shandi Finnessey.

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.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband communications company and the third-largest cable operator in the United States. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services, including advanced digital video entertainment programming (Charter Digital(TM) Video), Charter High-Speed(TM) Internet access service, and Charter Telephone(TM) services. Charter Business(TM) similarly provides scalable, tailored and cost-effective broadband communications solutions to business organizations, such as business-to-business Internet access, data networking, and video and music entertainment services. Charter's advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter Media(R) brand. More information about Charter can be found at www.charter.com.

(Photos available at winwithwords.com or corp.gsn.com)

Source: GSN

CONTACT: Deborah McBride of GSN, +1-310-633-4175, dmcbride@gsn.com

Web site: http://www.winwithwords.com/

Web site: http://corp.gsn.com/

Web site: http://www.charter.com/

Web site: http://www.princetonreview.com/

Web site: http://www.gsn.com/

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