New York — May 4, 2010 — Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc, (NASDAQ: SCHL) the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced the first annual WordGirl™ Definition Competition – a live virtual event that will challenge students grades 1-3 in a battle for word domination. Inspired by the educational objectives of the WordGirl show that airs daily on PBS KIDS GO!, the WordGirl Definition Competition will bring the character into the classroom as never before,engaging students with vocabulary words through an entertaining and interactive format. The live event will take place on Tuesday, May 11th at 1:00PM ET at Scholastic’s New York City headquarters and will be streamed to thousands of classrooms via a live webcast nationwide. In the past year alone, Scholastic has reached more than 6 million students and teachers through live webcasts.

Classrooms are invited to participate by a video invitation from WordGirl herself at www.scholastic.com/wordgirldefinitioncompetition. In a game show format hosted by WordGirl and Beau Handsome, of the "May I Have a Word" segment from the animated series, the event will consist of three short rounds and a one-minute bonus round. Contestants will put their vocabulary skills to practice as they are asked questions pertaining to word usage, reading comprehension, definitions and using words in different contexts. Classes across the country will play along, in real-time, by submitting answers online during the webcast—and may be called out during the event.

"WordGirl" has always used her powers to instill a love of language, and the Definition Competition is a great opportunity for fans to see her in action," said Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. “We are delighted to grow this annual event to further enrich children's vocabulary with an entertaining and engaging experience for kids and adults alike."

All teachers of grades 1-3 registered for the Definition Competition will automatically be entered into the WordGirl Definition Competition sweepstakes for a chance to win books and prizes for their school orclassroom. * Click here for official rules.

The WordGirl Definition Competition comes on the heels of the announcement that WordGirl will serve as the national Ambassador of Summer Reading in conjunction with the Scholastic Summer Challenge, a collaboration of Scholastic and Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and the National Summer Learning Association. WordGirl has adopted summer reading as her cause to encourage kids to continue reading over the summer vacation because children who read over the summer fare better in school than their peers who don’t read over summer. Reading more helps children learn new words, and learning new words helps children become better readers. As part of her Ambassador role, WordGirl will appear in digital ads and in promotional videos about the importance of summer reading which will air online at scholastic.com/summer and on Scholastic's You Tube Channel. WordGirl will also be making appearances throughout the summer at reading events with Governors' Spouses who are joining with Scholastic to promote summer reading in their states.

WordGirl airs five days a week on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings) and has won numerous parenting and industry excellence awards since its debut, including a 2008 Emmy Award for "Best Writing in Animation," a Television Critics Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Animation," a Gracie Award for its portrayal of a strong female character, a KidScreen Award for Best Voice Talent,and an iParenting Media Award. It was nominated for a 2009 Emmy for Best Direction in an Animated Series. New episodes of the Emmy Award-winning animated series are also set to air in July.

For more information on WordGirl, please visit mediaroom.scholastic.com/wordgirl, pbskidsgo.org/wordgirl and pbs.org/pressroom.

* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Subject to all applicable laws. Register by May 7, 2010 to be automatically entered in the "WordGirl Definition Competition Webcast Sweepstakes." Open to legal residents of the U.S. who are teachers of grades 1-3. One Grand Prize consisting of: school set of at least 500 books; classroom set of 30 copies of the Scholastic Children's Dictionary and the Scholastic Children's Thesaurus; and classroom set of 30 "WordGirl Prize Packs." Grand Prize ARV: $6,034.90. Two Second Prizes, each consisting of one Scholastic Children's Dictionary, one Scholastic Children's Thesaurus and one "WordGirl Prize Pack." Second Prize ARV: $117.83 each.
Click to read the official rules.

Contact:
Brian Reinert / Ashley Gillen
BENDER/HELPER IMPACT
brian_reinert@bhimpact.com /ashley_gillen@bhimpact.com
212.689.6360