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Students at Lanier Middle School screamed in excitement as they learned that Lanier came in first in the U.S.—beating more than 16,000 schools—in Vocabulary.com’s December Vocabulary Bowl.

The annual Vocabulary Bowl pits schools against one another in a friendly competition of word mastery. Students log onto the interactive learning game, select their grade level, and learn the meaning of words they may never have seen before. Teachers can also create vocabulary lists based on reading students have done in class.

Schools compete for monthly honors in state and overall championship honors. Last year, more than 200,000 students in the U.S. and Canada participated, according to Vocabulary.com.

“Just knowing that you have the power to master these words and build a vocabulary that you will have forever is great,” said Vocabulary.com Account Manager Shannon Doyne to the Lanier student body at a banner dedication ceremony. “You will be more articulate and better able to express yourself.”

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be named number one in the country at anything,” said Lanier student Safia Khan, whose score put her at the top spot in the nation.

Aside from national honors, there was one more feather in the caps of Lanier students; they beat their district rival, Chavez High School. Chavez had been number one for many months and won last year’s national overall competition. Lanier students took pride in trumping the older students by learning 30,013 new words in December.

“Students love to use technology, so Vocabulary.com is the perfect channel for them.” said Lanier Assistant Principal Angel Wilson. “They really enjoy the competition.”

The Vocabulary Bowl started at the beginning of October and final overall championship honors will be assessed at the end of April.