team from Hardin Park School has won second place in regional Battle of the Books competition for students in fourth and fifth grades. The regional competition included 15 Battle of the Books championship teams from school systems in 14 counties in northwestern NC.
The Hardin Park team that finished second in the regional event includes Makayla Barnes, Angela Claire Henderson, Lydia Rothrock, Ellery Rushing, Ella Triplett, and Lily Wilson. The team was coached by Hardin Park teachers Corrie Freeman and Emily Rothrock.
The team originally finished in a tie for second but won a playoff round against Rowan-Salisbury to clinch complete possession of second place.
Rothrock praised the team for the work they put into preparing for competition. “Battle of the Books is a time-intensive program for team members,” she remarked. “It requires that they read 18 books at least once and meet throughout the year for team practices. Our team members take on these extra responsibilities in addition to their already busy school and extracurricular schedules. We are especially proud of their strong work ethic, commitment, and cooperative team attitude.
The Golden Eagles team represented Hardin Park and WCS so well at the regional competition.”
Rothrock and Freeman also thanked those who supported the team’s participation. “We are grateful for the support of the Watauga Education Foundation, our school media specialists Candice Trexler and Amy Hiatt, and the amazing parents of our team members!”
Hardin Park has traditionally done very well in Battle of the Books but its teams have been especially strong this year. The second place finish of the elementary grades team follows close on the heels of a regional championship achieved earlier this month by a middle school team from Hardin Park. That team will go on to compete at the state level next month.
For Battle of the Books competitions, teams are asked questions about the books they are expected to read over the months preceding the competition. In each round, two teams are asked questions about “in which book” a specific scene, event, or character appears. Each question is initially addressed to one team and if that team provides the correct title and author of the book, they are awarded three points. If they miss, the other team is given a chance to answer the question and win two points for a correct response. Each team plays every other team once in the competition and the winning team is determined on the basis of total points scored in all rounds combined.
As mentioned by Freeman and Rothrock, Battle of the Books in the Watauga County Schools receives generous support from the Watauga Education Foundation. The Foundation has funded local participation for a number of years, including this year’s grant of $2,000 that helped pay for books and for travel to the regional competition. For more information about the Watauga Education Foundation, visit their website at http://wataugaeducationfoundation.org.
Additional information about the elementary grades Battle of the Books in NC is available at http://www.ncslma.org/ebob.
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