Word whiz

Ashlin Stahlberg's classmates know she's the one to turn to if they're stumped on a word's meaning.

She knows that a tapir is a small, piglike animal. She knows "pore" is a verb as well as a noun. And thanks to her knowledge of these and other random words' definitions, the Trinity Lutheran sixth-grader has the opportunity to compete in a national contest for a college scholarship.

Last week, Stahlberg defeated 29 peers to win the Montana state championship in the fifth-annual Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge. In May, she'll join winners from all 50 states at the national championship in Orlando, Fla.

"We are so excited for Ashlin," said Colleen St. Pierre, the Trinity Lutheran teacher who sponsored the school's participation in the competition. "What an incredible reward."

Unlike a spelling bee, the National Word Power Challenge tests students' understanding of words' meanings. More than 2 million students and thousands of schools have participated in the challenge, which is based on Reader's Digest's "Word Power" column.

Stahlberg and the other sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students at Trinity Lutheran School entered the competition by completing an online quiz. Stahlberg's score was high enough to earn her a slot in the regional competition, which also took place on the Internet.

The top 30 students from regionals went on to the state championship, which was held March 19 in Great Falls. Stahlberg, seventh-grader Zane Kloeckl and eighth-grader Ian Cavigli, all Trinity Lutheran students, competed at state.

At the statewide competition, the students were divided into two groups "to make it less intimidating," Stahlberg explained. The students then answered 25 questions, and the five students with the most correct answers from each group advanced to the final round.

That round was split into five sections, each with five multiple-choice questions. Students held up flash cards depicting an A, B, C or D to show which answer they chose.

All three competitors from Trinity Lutheran advanced to the final round. Cavigli finished third. Stahlberg correctly answered 22 of 25 questions, enough to make her the clear winner.

"Which was an amazing thing, because I think your papa and I missed more than that each," Stahlberg's mother, Mary, told her.

It wasn't a difficult victory, Stahlberg said.

She prepared a little for the competition, primarily by visiting dictionary or word-of-the-day Web sites. But her vast vocabulary is largely the result of years spent poring over books.

Stahlberg doesn't read a lot - it's much more often than that.

"That's the understatement of the year," she said, laughing.

Mary Stahlberg nodded. "Yeah, that would sum it up."

Stahlberg rarely is without a book. She does put it down for other hobbies, such as tap dancing. But reading is her first love.

She devotes an average of 24 hours a week to reading. She finished 200 books last year.

"I carry [a book] everywhere with me," she said. "Everybody in class started calling me a dictionary."

She could read pretty well by the end of kindergarten and became "fairly obsessive about it" by the end of second grade, her mother said. She reads during class when her assignments are finished, a habit that has created problems.

"I wouldn't know that we had changed [subjects] because I was so buried in this book," Stahlberg said.

Surprisingly, reading isn't her favorite school subject; she'd rather read by herself at her own pace. Given a choice, she'll opt for a fantasy, though she also enjoys historical fiction and classic literature.

She won copies of several classics at the state competition. If she wins the national championship May 14-15, Stahlberg will take home a $25,000 college scholarship. She doesn't know where she would spend that money, though being part of a family of "avid Grizzly fans" may result in her attending the University of Montana.

Reader's Digest is paying for Stahlberg and her teacher, Rebecca Braaten, to attend the national competition, which takes place at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld. A television special based on the national event and hosted by Al Roker of NBC's "Today" show will be broadcast on NBC stations this summer.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.