TOWAMENCIN – Typically, Fridays for North Penn students consist of a scantron and vocabulary testing, however, on this particular Friday, North Penn High School English students took a more interactive approach. Students from six different classes went head to head in a competitive vocabulary competition, along with a few other special guests, and had the opportunity to win prizes and do something fun before they went on their week long winter break.

North Penn High School Principal Todd Bauer even joined in on the fun and took a turn in the hot seat, correctly answering one of the vocabulary questions.

“I love the Vocab Bowl. It’s always fun to see the kids excited about learning and doing something competitive but in the spirit of just having fun together and building community. It’s great,” Bauer said.

As much as the students loved taking a break from their regular routines,Bauer did as well.

“To be honest, the best part of my job is interacting with students and having fun watching them at their best so to participate in this is wonderful for me. I just sat in a boring meeting for an hour and a half and then I get to come to this and laugh and smile and have fun with the kids,” Bauer explained.

English teacher Ellen Mckee, the proud founder of the event at North Penn, has also enjoyed seeing the Vocab Bowl evolve,

“It started ten years ago when the juniors were being tested in January for the PSSA and also for midterms, and the teachers felt there was so much testing for the 11th grade that they needed fun to break up the work for them and get them ready for the test. So we came up with an academic competition that would sorta get them stoked for the test and have some fun academically.” McKee reflected.

There’s a lot to gain from an event like this but Mckee made it clear that the “the Vocab Bowl is to teach the kids to have fun at school and have them practice something they’re not good at right away so they understand what it means to work hard at something and to work together as a team.”

All six classes that were involved spent the last two weeks practicing for this event, and according to Mckee “[these students] can do all 70 words in 1 minute and 31 seconds.”

Amy Young, another English teacher at North Penn, likewise, is excited about the preparation and meaning behind the vocab bowl.

“The overall goal is definitely unity of our classes, cheering each other on, and obviously vocab and learning words, but the bigger picture for us I think is the comradeship with the kids and everyone supporting each other and having fun,” Young stated.

Two weeks of preparation paid off, and by the end of the event a tie was drawn between Mckee and Becky Poole’s second period and Lisa Lawler and Young’s first period. Contestants from each class were nominated to go up and face off in a four point flashcard showdown for the trophy: Olivia Mayo vs. Khushi Desai.

Although both well prepared, Mayo came out victorious, stealing the win for Mckee’s second period class.

“Going into to it I was scared because our teachers had told us Lawler’s class had only won two times before and they said period two, the period that I’m in wins every year, so I was nervous because what if I lost it for us and they won for a third time?! That kind of made me shake a little bit,” Mayo said.

It was clear that both students had studied hard and came prepared, all thanks to their teachers. When asked what the hardest part was Mayo responded with:

“The hardest part was probably… i don’t know. Our class made it so easy because our teachers are really good. We had a lot of practice with it. Those flashcards that we used here are [similar to the ones we] practiced with in class.”
In the end, students received medals for their efforts and participation. A job truly well done, the tenth annual Vocab Bowl, and the final bowl, had a true hollywood ending.