Mei Stone likes many things students her age enjoy – playing soccer, creative writing, math and science, engineering projects, and hanging out in her room. But her love of reading helps her explore other cultures and provides appreciation for vocabulary and words. In her favorite series, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Mei loves escaping into the Shire. “I’ve read the series a lot,” said Mei. “It is amazing to me how Tolkien created an entire new language and new world.”
Mei’s love of language and words helped her achieve a perfect score on the WordMasters Challenge™, a national competition for students in elementary and middle school to test vocabulary and verbal reasoning. WordMasters Challenge requires students to think both analytically and metaphorically. Mei liked the analogies and metaphor question format. “Some of the questions were hard because I would know a different meaning to a word, but you can figure out the answer if you read the question carefully,” said Mei.
Her teacher, Laura May was not surprised at her high score, citing her curiosity and perseverance as assets to her learning. “Mei is that student that is always interested,” said Laura May. “She finds an angle to every topic to catch her imagination and then she finds out more.”
But Mrs. May said it was not her vocabulary or reading books at a high level that makes Mei special and a valued part of her class. “She is quiet, but very willing to be a good friend and a great classmate.”
Mei is looking forward to going to Katherine Johnson MS next year. She hopes to take creative writing, engineering, and still be in the band. And, she said, she will keep reading.