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The Central Tampa News & Tribune

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Winning's The Word

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 1, 2009

SOUTH TAMPA - A team of students representing St. John's Parish Day School recently won highest honors in the WordMasters Challenge. About 230,000 students annually participate in the national language competition, which consists of three separate meets held during the school year.

Competing in the Blue Division of the Challenge, and coached by Michael Salzer, the school's fourth-graders tied for second place in the nation at the second meet of the year, pitting them against 718 schools competing at this grade level and in this division.

The competition took place in individual classrooms at St. John's, and four of the school's pupils won highest honors for individual achievement: Fourth-graders Carlin Dixon and Sarah Jennewein, fifth-grader Thea Schmid, and sixth-grader Julia Lewis earned perfect scores in the meets for their grade levels, where nationwide only 40 fourth-graders, 80 fifth-graders, and 48 sixth-graders did so.

Others at the school who achieved outstanding results in the meet included third-graders Michael Lennartz, Erin Rice, George Robbins, Patrick Cacciatore, Deme Capitano, Tripp Dixon, Anders Douglas, Sarah Fisher, Chrissy Lewis, Andrew McMillan, Lance Maulsby, Connor Scott and Alyssa Stern; fourth-graders Allyson Abbey, Erica Brown, Erin Russell, Carson Eckhard, Anna Gilhool, Hugh Hickman, Courtney Jones, Matt Lutton, Kent Malizia, Madison McLean, Catherine Migliore, Patrick Morey and Caitlin Zettel; fifth-graders Matthew Bruno, Robert Baldy, Jamison Bene, Spencer Burdge, Charles Butler, Boone Fisher, Jack Graham, Olivia Kirkpatrick, Callen Schumacher and Chad Singletary; sixth-grader Mary Johnson; seventh-graders Taz Strauch, Emily Harwell, Grant Preston and Emily Vaughan; and eighth-graders Francis Migliore, Will Black, Brian Grieves and Meli Weathers.