The WSN extended the scope of our activities within schools by conducting a meeting with a small but enthusiastic group of Year 7 children from the Mt Druitt Campus of Chifley College. Jonathan, Brendan, Sara and Skye were all actively contributing to the process of finding words and keeping track of scores in the demo game between Tony Hunt and Mr More, the science teacher who has volunteered to facilitate the meetings.

Tony had the two girls on his side and Mr More had the boys. They all got the hang of parallel plays very quickly, first trying to identify words on the rack, and then seeing how they could be placed for maximum points. Tony's "team" were able to capitalize on a few openings that Mr More's team made, including a 46 point play of YOUR on a triple word score, hooking the Y onto the end of TRUST.

Although the game wasn't able to be completed within the short 30 minute lunch break, we were able to illustrate most aspects of the game. Just as the bell rang, Brendan discovered a brilliant play with a single letter making a high-scoring 2-letter word and another 3-letter word, both on a double-word score.

With a bit of practice and encouragement, the early indications are that we have the makings of some very competent players. They were informed about the schoolchildren's tournament to be held at Baulkham Hills on the 18th January - we encourage all scrabble-inclined children to consider participating.

Tony Hunt

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