WALES – Daniel Fontaine and Kowan Mcfalls are the Wales Central School eighth grade champions in the school-level competition of the Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge. They will advance to the Maine championship on Feb. 27.

The school level, at which students answered oral and written question on vocabulary, was the first round in the second annual Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge.

The kickoff for this year’s challenge was in early August, with thousands of schools across the United States participating. Each of the school’s grade-level winners took a written qualifying test, and now up to 100 of the top scorers in each state will be eligible to compete in the state championship in February.

The Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge will provide an all-expense-paid trip to the national championship for the state champions and their teacher/escorts in late March. The first-place national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship. The second- and third-place winners will receive $15,000 and $10,000 college scholarships, respectively.

NBC Today Show’s Weather and Feature report, Al Roker, will serve as “Quiz Master” for the national finals. The program will be taped for later airing on NBC stations.