For another year Lee County Schools’ annual Battle of the Books provided students across the district’s elementary, middle, and high school levels the opportunity to take on at least 10 great book titles, working towards a school team-based competition that highlights student’s comprehension prowess.
Battle of the Books is an annual competition held all across the state of North Carolina in partnership with the NC School Library Media Association. The organization provides a curated book list for each age group, and then a list of questions from those selections for the team trivia-style competition.
All eight elementary schools in Lee County had participating students again this year, with students tackling fiction works with a wide variety of styles and topics. This year’s list was spotlighted by Sharon M. Draper’s Stella by Starlight and At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye (formerly of Science Guy fame) and Gregory Moore.
Each year LCS holds a fourth grade Battle, preparing students for the competition rules and reading regiment that is required of them for the fifth grade Battle that offers a chance to represent Lee County Schools in the Regional Battle of the Books. This year, B.T. Bullock’s fourth grade team took the preliminary crown and they will try to follow in the footsteps of last year’s fourth grade champions, Deep River, who cruised to the fifth grade title this year and earned a spot in the Regionals in Zebulon.
Jo Ann Lawler, the Media Coordinator and Battle of the Books coach for Deep River, has worked with this group of students for the last two years. She was beaming with pride in how much the team was able to grow and do over the past two Battle of the Books seasons.
“It was incredible and nerve-wracking to watch this group of students this year,” Lawler explained. “I’m so proud of all they have done and how hard they have worked this year. Reading all those books and getting through two practices a week the last few weeks just showed how committed they were. We could not be more proud of this team.”
In a unique happening this year, Deep River actually had all members of the team read each of the 16 titles on the reading list. It is a coach’s decision how many books a student has to complete to be part of the team, but this year, the Gators took it as a special challenge.
Lawler highlighted, “We presented it as a challenge to the kids. We let them know that we want them all to be as prepared as possible because you never know with sicknesses going around or other events who may not be able to show up on a given competition day. So we want them all to feel as prepared as they can for the competition day.”
Olivia B., a fifth grader on the team at Deep River was grinning ear to ear when she said the best part of the Battle of the Books was “Winning!” But her and her teammates managed to pull together in the final few rounds and post big point totals to get the win again this year. Olivia’s favorite book in the reading list was Nick Blake and the Remarkables because it featured, “monsters and dragons,” but most importantly she was glad she participated because, “You get to make friends and spend more time with our teachers while we learn how to work together as a team.”
The high school competition is a little more laid back within Lee County Schools than its elementary counterpart, but the reading and drive to win is no less present. This year’s high school competition within Lee County didn’t lead to a regional competition, but the titles were spectacular including classics like J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit and Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood.
Southern Lee’s team managed to pull away for the victory in this year’s high school Battle despite fierce competition from Lee County High and Lee Early College. District Academic & Intellectually Gifted Coordinators Dillon Crockett and Leslie Cottrell take the lead organizing these competitions for students.
Cottrell said, “There is just so much to be gained when we give students an opportunity to explore great books and give them a goal to aim for. We are so proud of our students and each coach that participated in this year’s Battle of the Books and cannot wait to bring it back next year.”