By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CENTRAL PARK — At a citywide Scrabble tournament on Thursday, leaders of a city-sponsored after school program were banking on the hope that small words can teach New York’s kids big lessons.
The 36 New York children aged 6 to 12 who gathered for the competition, co-hosted by the National Scrabble Association, learned that “aa” is a kind of lava and “qi” is a variant on the “chi” in “tai chi.”
When the games, held at Central Park's Arsenal Gallery on Fifth Ave., wrapped up, awards went out to teams in three categories. Annabella Jagroup of Roosevelt Island and her partner Kiara Santos of Chelsea won the 6-8 year-old division.
Brooklyn's Brandon Aboua and Shawn Salick won the 9-10 year-old division, and Raymond Morrison and Dakotah Rogers of Queens captured the title for 11-12 year olds.
All the participants were members of one of the Parks Department's 32 Afterschool Programs, which provide recreational and educational opportunities for students during weekday afternoons and full days during school holidays.
“Scrabble is a fun game because it helps you to learn a lot of things in life,” said Santos.
National Scrabble Association Executive Director John Williams, who was on hand to kick off the action, described what exactly students can learn from the game.
“There’s a tremendous amount of educational benefit from Scrabble, which we’ve been tracking over the past 15 years or so,” Williams said. “Obviously spelling improves, vocabulary improves, dictionary use. But there’s also math, spatial relationships — you know you have to figure out if a word will be worth more here or there.”
Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe also greeted the students, telling them that Scrabble is one of his favorite games.
“It’s hard to learn, but once you learn it, it’s great,” Benepe said. “It’ll make you very smart if you play it a lot.”
