Liberty Students to Compete in National School Scrabble Championship

Two students from will compete in the 2012 National School Scrabble championship in Orlando. And the head of Liberty’s Scrabble Club thinks the chances of Maya Patel and Brandon See winning are “pretty good.” 

“At the end of the day it’s just a game but the possibility of coming out on top of the country is pretty exciting,” said Krystle Morrison, who also teaches reading at the New Tampa school. The national championship will be held tomorrow and Saturday at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando.

Brandon and Maya, both eighth-graders, will be vying against 150 other youngsters ages 9 through 14 for a $10,000 prize — and bragging rights, of course.

“That’s a significant chunk of money for the kids,” Morrison said. “It could go toward college or be put into savings. It’s not the reason they are doing this but it helps as an incentive.”

The competition is steep, according to organizers.

“At this year’s NSSC, there will be 29 students with official North American SCRABBLE Players Association (NASPA) ratings. The field also includes NSSC champs, 12 sets of siblings and numerous School SCRABBLE tournament newbies,” a news releases states.

"These competitors represent the cream of the crop from our National School SCRABBLE® Program,” National SCRABBLE Association Executive Director John D. Williams Jr. added in the release.

The great thing about school Scrabble clubs is that students are learning and “they don’t know it,” Williams said.

Morrison said she started the Scrabble Club at Liberty Middle School just this school year.

“I was trying to find something that keeps kids interested in vocabulary,” she said. 

It certainly seems to be working.

Stay with Patch for updates on how the Liberty Middle School pair performs in Orlando. For more information about the championship, visit www.schoolscrabble.com.