Zach Wade’s love of reading gave him a broad vocabulary which helped to propel him into the National Championship of the Reader’s Digest first Annual National Word Power Challenge held in March in Colonial Williamsburg, Va.
Wade, 12 years old and a sixth-grader in Renea Samborski’s class at Hood View Junior Academy (HVJA) in Boring, Ore., earned the privilege of being the Oregon State representative to the contest’s National Championship during the statewide competition, held in Eugene, Ore., Jan. 22.
The Reader’s Digest contest flew Wade and Samborski to Williamsburg for the National competition, Mar. 24–26, which was hosted by Al Roker, of NBC’s Today Show. Contest first-, second-, and third-place finishers will receive $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000 respectively, in college scholarships. When asked how he planned to enrich his word power in preparation for the contest, Wade responded, “By reading.”
Wade, the son of Dennis and Shelly Wade of Sandy, Ore., has attended Hood View Junior Academy since kindergarten. •
Hood View students, from left: Ryan Robinson, Zach Wade, Ashur Shelton, Tim Carroll, and Michael Tuttle, were part of a group of students representing their public and private schools in Oregon to the Reader’s Digest Word Power Challenge. Both Tim and Zach placed within the group of top ten finalists in the state championship.
