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Bethel Team Wins Battle of the Books Competition—Second Year Running

Story by Corinne Saunders

The 2008 Watauga County Middle School Battle of the Books first place trophy went to a team from Bethel for the second year in a row on Friday, March 14.

Fourteen teams composed of sixth through eighth grade students from the local elementary schools battled it out at Mount Vernon Baptist Church through 13 rounds of questions. The questions, generated at the state level, tested students’ knowledge of the 26 books they read outside of school specifically for this competition.

“They’re avid readers to do this on top of schoolwork,” said Candice Trexler, media specialist at Hardin Park and Watauga County’s Battle of the Books coordinator.

Each round in Battle of the Books consists of 12 questions, directed to one team at a time, alternating between teams. A team has 20 seconds after a question to collaborate and decide which of the 26 books is the answer. If their response is correct, they receive two points for the book’s title and one point for the author. If they answer incorrectly, however, the opposing team has 10 seconds to answer and only the title is required for an automatic two points.

Up to 12 students are allowed to be on each team, but only six can participate at a time. Several schools had two teams compete this year but each team is its own entity; only one team—not one school—can win. The winner is the team with the most points at the end of the competition, not necessarily the team that wins the most rounds.

The Bethel White team won with 217 points, Blowing Rock Green earned second place with 191 points and Valle Crucis White came in third place with 189 points.

Bethel White will represent Watauga County in the Middle School Regional Battle of the Books competition on Friday, April 11, at Boone United Methodist, competing against 16 other school systems.

The statewide competition is usually held the first week of May in Greensboro, and the reading list for the upcoming year is released immediately afterward, Trexler said.

Not all counties in North Carolina hold Battle of the Books competitions; participation is encouraged, but not required.

“At some schools [in this county] it’s an exploratory class option, but even they practice after school,” she added. “[Battle of the Books is] usually extracurricular.”

Students who participate in Battle of the Books when they are in sixth, seventh and eighth grades do not see the same book twice. Typically nine new books are included in the reading list each year, and some books cycle every four years, but the students do not have repeats, Trexler said.

The media specialist at each school serves as the coach for students who chose to participate. “All of us media specialists are coaches; sometimes AIG [Academically Intellectually Gifted] teachers help,” Trexler said.

Trexler has been involved with Battle of the Books for four years and took over as coordinator last year upon the retirement of former Battle of the Books coordinator and Parkway media specialist Kathy Idol. Idol had served as coordinator “for a good 15 years, from the day it started in this county,” Trexler said.

Trexler coordinated the schedules, rooms, questions and lunch for the competition, and Jo Sorrell, the media specialist at Mabel, coordinated the approximately 30 volunteers that helped out this year.

Seven rooms of the church were used for the 14 teams to compete in 13 rounds simultaneously. The teams followed a schedule of room-changing to compete with the other teams and the four volunteers per room—a moderator who read the questions, two judges and one scorekeeper/timekeeper—remained in their assigned room.

Even the students who did not win had an enjoyable time; although they must make up the work they missed, they had a break from the daily school routine and Backyard Burger catered lunch for everyone.

Several teams sported shirts made specifically for this competition.

“I love reading books and [Battle of the Books] is really fun,” said seventh-grade student and Mabel team member Tyler Sturgill. This is his second year participating and he is also highly competitive, he added.

His teammates share the same enthusiasm.

“I love to read; my entire family are readers and it’s fun to be with my friends,” said seventh-grade student, second-year participant Brook Madison.

“My teacher said it would be a good opportunity and it made me a better reader,” said first-time participant, seventh-grade student Jessie Simon.

The Watauga County Middle School Battle of the Books competition is made possible in part by the Watauga Education Foundation.

The foundation gives $1,500 each year to the Battle of the Books coordinator, who divides it among the eight schools. The schools can use the money to purchase Battle of the Books titles and be reimbursed for them, Trexler said. “We have to have multiple copies when kids are reading the same titles [and] this is where the cost comes in,” Trexler added.

“It’s our only regular annual gift to schools,” said Becka Saunders, president of the Watauga Education Foundation.

A Junior Battle of the Books competition for fourth and fifth grade students will be held Friday, April 4. Those students are only required to read about 14 books, Trexler said.

“I’m writing a grant for Junior Battle of the Books because there is no funding for that,” she added.

The North Carolina School Library Media Association (NCSLMA) chose the following books to include in the 2007-08 reading list for this year’s Middle School Battle of the Books:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Under a War-Torn Sky by Laura Elliott

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

Heaven by Angela Johnson

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

My Dog Skip by Willie Morris

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Truesight by David Jr. Stahler

The Land by Mildred D. Taylor

The Weirdo by Theodore Taylor

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan

Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan