We again had the good fortune to work with a group of dynamic WNY librarians who created the foundation for an incredible middle school book competition. Donn Riggi, librarian at Alden Middle School, has hosted a Battle of the Books event for her students for the last eleven years. A few years ago, the Alden Battle of the Books was expanded to a multi-district event including Orchard Park Middle School (with librarians Paul Kloster and Christine Tempestoso) and Hamburg Middle School (with librarian Megan Moelbert). These librarians have worked hard to expand the Battle of the Books to include other area schools. For the 2019 competition, there were thirteen participating schools!
Mrs. Webb and I began our Iroquois Battle of the Books in mid-February. We held informational sessions for students which gave them details about the event and the books chosen for the competition. Students were encouraged to form teams of 3-5 students. Each team would test their knowledge against other Iroquois teams by answering trivia questions pertaining to the five books chosen for the competition. There were two rounds of questions. After the two rounds, the Iroquois team with the highest combined score would travel to Pioneer Middle School to compete with the other WNY teams.
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| The brochure outlining the competition information. |
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| Page 2 of the brochure. |
Forty-three students in grades 6-8 signed up to be a part of the competition! This was an even bigger turnout than in 2018. We ended up with ten teams competing during the Iroquois rounds. The teams included: The Nerds, Code Grey, Supersonic Klepto Penguins, We Cheated, and The Chipmunks. Leading up to the competition, students were encouraged to visit the library during select lunch periods to meet with their teammates and ask questions of the advisors.
The two preliminary rounds at Iroquois took place in late March/early April 2019. The competition was fierce, as the final scores were very close! It was clear that students really read the books carefully. All teams worked well together in answering trivia questions.
At the end of the Iroquois rounds, The Chipmunks emerged victorious! This team scored a perfect 80 out of a possible 80 points. On April 10th, 2019, The Chipmunks traveled to Pioneer Middle School to battle against the other WNY teams.
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| Members of The Chipmunks. |
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| The mascots were also ready to compete! |
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| Involved in the competition. |
Although The Chipmunks did not win the competition, they represented Iroquois with style and respect. We couldn't be prouder of this wonderful team of readers!
A special thanks to all students who participated and to Mrs. Webb for being an awesome co-advisor! We are already looking forward to next year.
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