Long Beach LARC (Learning Activities to Raise Creativity) has earned Highest Honors in the prestigious WordMasters Challenge, a national vocabulary competition that engages nearly 125,000 students each year.

The fourth-grade Long Beach LARC team delivered an outstanding performance in the second of three meets this season, scoring 174 out of a possible 200 points. This exceptional achievement secured the team a seventh-place ranking nationwide among 87 competing teams.

The fourth-grade team was led by top scorers William Kugelman, Max April, Juliet Polland, Benjamin Onufrock, Ade Burgess, Eleanor Zareno, Beckett McCaffrey-Ricardo, Grace McCaffrey-Ricardo, Shae McConnon, and Graham Wilsusen.

Competing in the highly competitive Gold Division, additional Long Beach LARC students also earned national recognition for their performance. Honorees include third graders Alejandro Montoya, Garner Levenson, and Skylar Chorowski; fourth graders William Kugelman, Max April, Beckett McCaffrey-Ricardo, Shae McConnon, and Graham Wilsusen; and fifth graders Jiya Klarner, August Rodabaugh, Colin Cestaro, Benjamin Flammer, Liam Sweeney, and Declan Garvey.

The WordMasters Challenge is designed to strengthen critical thinking skills by introducing students to a carefully selected set of advanced vocabulary words. Participants are then challenged to apply their understanding by solving analogies that demonstrate a variety of logical relationships. This process encourages students to think both analytically and creatively, fostering deeper language comprehension and reasoning abilities.

Long Beach Gifted & Talented Teacher Dr. Caitlin Fuentes King said, “Our continued success in the WordMasters Challenge highlights not only strong academic achievement, but also a learning environment where curiosity is nurtured and students are encouraged to question, reason, and grow into independent thinkers.”

Date Added: 3/23/2026