Rumney Marsh Academy rises to the top in global Vocabulary Bowl competition

Special to The Advocate

What began as a simple midwinter challenge quickly turned into a remarkable academic achievement for Rumney Marsh Academy (RMA) — students and staff gathered Monday morning to celebrate the school’s extraordinary performance in this year’s Vocabulary Bowl, a worldwide competition hosted by Vocabulary.com. Over the course of two months, from February through March, more than 1.1 million learners from around the globe competed to master new words and climb international leaderboards. By the end of the competition, Rumney Marsh Academy had secured its place among the very best, earning the title of the #1 school in Massachusetts and the #2 rookie school across the United States and Canada. The milestone was commemorated with a schoolwide awards ceremony, complete with banners, a trophy, medals and an ice cream celebration for all students— recognizing both individual excellence and a collective effort that defined the school’s success.

Four students achieved the remarkable distinction of placing among the top 100 competitors worldwide. Fuad Ahmed, Nicholas Rosa, Qasim Hassan and Thanukatriyana Sun earned special recognition and trophies for their global rankings.

RMA’s literacy coach, Jennifer O’Reilly, who helped spearhead the initiative, recounted the journey during Monday’s ceremony. What began as an unfamiliar opportunity quickly became a defining academic moment for the school. “This all started when, in mid-January, I was asked to sign us up,” O’Reilly told students. “At the time, I had no idea what it would become. I thought maybe we could break into the top 10 in the state.”

At the outset, RMA sat in 21st place in Massachusetts — a respectable but unremarkable starting point. Students began working on vocabulary exercises during advisory periods and in some classroom settings, gradually building momentum. That effort paid off. The school climbed steadily — first into the top 15, then the top 10 and eventually into the top five. Along the way, they surpassed well-established competitors, including a prestigious private school in Cambridge, signaling that something special was underway.

By February, the competition intensified. Hopkinton, another top-performing district, held a commanding lead of nearly 3,000 words — no small margin in a contest where mastering a single word can require dozens of correct responses. But during February break, while many schools paused their efforts, RMA students continued working.

“That’s when something amazing happened,” O’Reilly said. “While others took time off, you kept going.”

When students returned from break, the gap had shrunk dramatically: from thousands of words to just a few hundred. Within days, RMA surged ahead, claiming the top spot among middle schools in Massachusetts.

The final challenge came from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, the previous year’s overall winner. Despite the size and experience advantage of their competitor, RMA maintained its momentum and ultimately surpassed them, securing the statewide championship.

The statistics behind RMA’s Vocabulary Bowl run are as impressive as the outcome itself:

• 440,120 questions answered
• 279,539 questions answered correctly
• 2,375 total hours spent on the platform
• 16,874 words mastered
• More than 53 million points accumulated

These numbers reflect not just individual dedication but a coordinated, schoolwide commitment to academic growth.

“This wasn’t just about our top scorers,” O’Reilly emphasized. “If you added up only their contributions, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we finished. This was the result of every single student putting in the effort.”

Part of the competition’s design helped drive that collective engagement. In addition to individual rankings, students also competed within their advisory groups, creating a layer of friendly internal competition.

Several advisees stood out for their exceptional performance, each surpassing 2,000 points. Among the top-performing groups were Ms. Dulong’s Room 239, Mr. Donovan’s advisory group, Mr. Willett’s advisory group and Ms. Perates’ advisory group. As promised, those groups will be rewarded with their choice of celebratory gatherings — ranging from pizza parties to donut parties — further reinforcing the sense of camaraderie and shared achievement.

While the school celebrated its collective accomplishment, individual achievements were also recognized during the ceremony. The top students — based on words mastered and questions answered — were awarded medals, commemorative “RMA Champion” T-shirts and lasting recognition for their dedication. Aside from the top four RMA students, other honorees were Kayla Men, Melanie Mancia Moreno, Henos Teklu, Israel Bastianelli, Valentina Barraza-Angel, Kaiya Riedel-Smith, Ariana Delplank Bastianelli, David Okokuro, Sara Bouram, Alaa Mehdi, Tomas DiBenedetto Artica, Felipe Narvaez Knauer, Daniel De Pena Duran, Juliette Calderon Tejada, Christian Holley, Zaynab Aboutoui and Ashley Tabares Vasquez.

“In a competition with over a million participants, seeing ‘Revere’ on that leaderboard alongside countries like Canada and Singapore is incredible,” O’Reilly said. “These students are making our entire city proud.”

Following the awards presentation, students were treated to an ice cream party — a fitting reward for weeks of sustained academic effort. The celebration underscored a key theme of the Vocabulary Bowl: learning can be both rigorous and joyful.

The competition itself, which has engaged millions of students from tens of thousands of schools worldwide, is designed to promote vocabulary development through interactive, adaptive learning. Each word mastered contributes to a school’s total points, encouraging both individual accountability and teamwork.

At Rumney Marsh Academy, that model proved especially effective. The success of this year’s Vocabulary Bowl has set a new standard at RMA and sparked enthusiasm for future academic competitions. More importantly, it has reinforced a culture of perseverance, collaboration and pride in achievement.

“This shows what’s possible when everyone works together toward a common goal,” O’Reilly said. “You should all be incredibly proud of what you’ve accomplished.”