April Showers Bring Scrabble Champions

ASAP Scrabble students – forever champions!

Over the last few years, ASAP has sponsored dozens of Scrabble champions to compete in the North American School Scrabble Championships (NASSC) — hosted in cities nationwide. And just like our Nationals-bound chess players, during the School District of Philadelphia’s spring recess, ASAP’s most dedicated young Scrabble champions traveled to the nation’s capital to compete against the best and brightest wordsmiths from across the continent. Of the students competing at the Championships, more than half had never been to the NASSC Tournament before nor travelled outside of Philadelphia. Consequently, championship participant Eric Amabile, 8th grader from Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP), summed up his experience as a first-time NAASC competitor:

“It’s been awesome — very different from past things where you would just take the bus to somewhere in Philadelphia. It’s very professional, the way that it’s set up, and all the people that can help us out.”
Eric Amabile, 8th Grader at GAMP

Nevertheless, that same upbeat championship attitude didn’t stop there. ASAP Scrabble students from Overbrook Educational Center (OEC) brought a contagious, ambitious, positive energy to the game floor that weekend:

“I’m not nervous, I’m excited. I’ve placed in other tournaments before, so I’m hoping to get at least top 5.”
Nyeisha Greenidge, 5th Grader at OEC

The Nationals Winner Circle

All told, these fearless word nerds played an intense 5 hours of Scrabble on that first championship day, with two teams — King Tang & Naomi Tran and Minh LeNyugen & Vihann Kaushik of GAMP — landing in 7th and 8th place, respectively. By the second day, Minh & Vihaan were able to retain their top 10 ranking, finishing 9th overall in the Championship Division.

Forever Champions

Despite not everyone bringing home a trophy that weekend, the smiles never left the kids’ faces. In between rounds, you would be hard-pressed to find a sour face in the bunch. Instead, the halls were littered with pats on the backs and positive affirmations like “I gave it my best” or “I’m ready for next year!”

Likewise, Overbrook Educational Center ASAP Scrabble Coach Sandra Spencer also shared that sentiment:

“In our club we have fun and we don’t emphasize winning or losing- we just emphasize teamwork. We emphasize having fun, enjoying yourself, and shaking hands after you win and lose. Just have fun, that’s all. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for our children to compete against other students from different states so they can understand and learn how to be amongst other students win or lose. They’re still all champions.”
Sandra Spencer, Coach at OEC

Congratulations to all championship competitors!

Overbrook Educational Center, Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP), Academy at Palumbo, and PA Cyber Charter School.

Unquestionably, Mrs. Spencer echos how we all feel about these inspiring competitors- they’re forever champions to us.

Still to come this Spring at ASAP!

ASAP Spring Appeal

Coming Soon: Featuring North Square Community Alliance and the ASAP Scrabble club at McKinley Elementary School

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ASAP Chess Nationals

More than 40 ASAP Chess students traveled to DC to compete amongst 1,700 players from across the country. Read more to see who came out on top at the K-12 National Chess Championships.

Read the blog!

ASAP in the news:

 ASAP Debate students featured in 6ABC Action News coverage following another successful scholastic season

See full press coverage!

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