Montgomery Bell Academy's Brian Swenson Wins the Nashville Citywide Competition of...

Montgomery Bell Academy's Brian Swenson Wins the Nashville CitywideCompetition of the Second Annual 'National Vocabulary Championship'Brian Swenson outperforms 94 other vocabulary scholars, winning $5,000 towarda higher education savings plan and qualifying to compete in the NationalVocabulary Championship Finals in Los Angeles on March 10NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Brian Swenson, a 16-year-oldjunior at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, outperformed 94 other localhigh school vocabulary scholars tonight, winning the NVC Nashville CitywideChampionship. As the local champion, Swenson earned $5,000 toward a "529"higher education savings plan and qualifies to compete in the "NationalVocabulary Championship" Finals in Los Angeles on March 10, 2008.

The National Vocabulary Championship is a national academic competitionconceived by GSN (Game Show Network) and its educational partner, ThePrinceton Review. The competition goes beyond traditional 'spelling bees' totest word definitions and overall word comprehension while providingcollege-bound students with the tools necessary to effectively communicatetheir ideas to the world. The NVC is hosting eight citywide qualifying eventsprior to the NVC Finals in LA, in which Swenson will go head-to-head with 49other students from around the country. The winner of the NVC Finals willreceive $40,000 toward a "529" higher education savings plan and the title of2008 National Vocabulary Champion.

Tonight's live event, sponsored by Comcast Cable, was held at NashvilleSchool of the Arts in Nashville, TN. The event featured the top 95 scorers ofthe more than 16,500 students who participated at the qualifying level fromlocal area schools including: Battle Ground Academy, Blackman High, CentennialHigh, Clarksville High, Creek Wood High, Eagleville High, East LiteratureMagnet, Glencliff Comprehensive, Greenbrier High, Hillsboro High, HillwoodHigh, Hume-Fogg Academic, Independence High, Kenwood High, LaVergne High,Lebanon High, Martin Luther King Magnet, Merrol Hyde Magnet, Montgomery BellAcademy, Montgomery Central High, Mount Julliet High, Nashville School of theArts, Northeast High, Northwest High, Riverdale High, Rossview High,Springfield High, University School of Nashville, Upperman High, WatertownHigh, Whites Creek High and Wilson Central High.

Unable to attend the event in person, former Vice President Al Gore lenthis support to the NVC in a congratulatory letter honoring the "tremendousaccomplishment" of the citywide finalists for their "hard work and dedicationin the classroom."

Swenson sealed his victory in the third and final round of competition bycorrectly identifying "edacious" as the synonym of the word "voracious" fromthe following sentence:

"Known as an arcane epicure, the edacious gourmand occasionally lapsed

into sybaritic episodes, all to provide an exemplar for scrupulous

postulants." The knock-out-style round of vocabulary questions had begun with fivefinalists, of which Edward Powell (Montgomery Bell Academy) and DanielPetroski (East Literature Magnet School) placed second and third,respectively. As second- and third-place finalists, Powell and Petroski willeach receive Encyclopedia Britannica's 2008 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD aswell as books and services from The Princeton Review. All competitors wereawarded one-year Encyclopedia Britannica Online subscriptions from NVC sponsorEncyclopedia Britannica.

On March 10, Swenson will be joining Yvonne Lin, a 16-year-old sophomorefrom Folsom High School, who recently won Sacramento's NVC citywidechampionship.