The annual North American School Scrabble Championship, sponsored by Hasbro, Inc. and the Word Game Players’ Organization, took place at the Planet Word Museum in Washington D.C., with winners emerging after two days of intense word play. More than 100 players from across the United States and Canada participated in the competition, which welcomed 42 teams in the Championship Division (elementary and middle school) and 27 players in the High School Division.
The event was livestreamed on Twitch TV, presented by Scopely, and saw participants play eight games before one-game championship finals in both divisions. In the Championship Division, Nathanael Campos, a 7th-grader from Ridgefield, CT, and Walden Giezentanner, an 8th-grader from Webster Groves, MO, emerged victorious with a final score of 463-266, finishing the tournament undefeated.
In the High School Division, Ruth Li, a 12th-grader from Toronto, Canada, secured first place with a final score of 408-348. Li made history as the first female to win the high-school division of the North American School Scrabble Championship and the second female to win a division since the event’s inception in 2003. The competition showcased impressive vocabulary with championship-winning words like GUINEAS, ATELIER, and HARTS. The highest-scoring word in the event was CHARLOCK, earning 194 points.
