Last Updated on March 29, 2022 8:56 am
BOONE — Watauga County School’s keenest readers met earlier this month in the district-wide Battle of the Books competition held on the campus of Appalachian State University. Green Valley’s team took home the win in the elementary contest, while Parkway was victorious at the middle school event.
Parkway’s team was coached by School Librarian Owen Gray and 7th grade ELA teacher Jessica Palmer. The Green Valley group was led by Green Valley’s Audrey Mikkola and Alisha Broce.
Parkway’s winning team was made up of Vanessa Krumrine, Shiloh Smith, Mackenzie Turnmire, Brynn Eckmann, Alex Hall, Jonathan Botello, Grace Young, Keira Van Lenten, Keith Tu, Charlie Stumb, Kennedy Moore, Edie Berke and Keller Wallin.
The Green Valley team was Miles Hartman, Haven Reynolds, Wendell Sanders, Kinsley Coffey, Brooke Turlington, Ellie Sebastian, Sierra Costner, Rylee Wilhelm, Audrey Mikkola, Alice Kannon, Ashlyn Prince, Catherine Rusch, Grayson Wilder, Lauren Sanders, Savana Costner, Nathaniel Walker and Bethany Weant.
A long-standing tradition in Watauga County Schools, each year Battle of the Books tasks teams from each school in the district to a competition that tests students ability to recall specific details and answer questions on books from a state promoted list they’ve read over the past year. Each team plays every other team once in the competition and each round consists of 12 questions — six posed to each team.
The questions require students to identify the book in which a specific scene, event, quote or character appears. If a team provides the correct title and author of the book, they are awarded three points. If they miss, the other team has one chance to answer the question and can win two points for a correct title response. The winning team is determined on the basis of total points scored in all rounds combined.
Battle of the Books is made possible by a grant from the Watauga Education Foundation that is divided equally between all nine schools. The funds are used to purchase books found on the North Carolina School Library Media Association Battle of the Books elementary, middle, and high school lists each year.
Parkway’s team consisted of: Top row: Vanessa Krumrine, Shiloh Smith, Mackenzie Turnmire, Brynn Eckmann, Alex Hall. Middle: Jonathan Botello, Grace Young, Keira Van Lenten, Keith Tu. Bottom: Charlie Stumb, Kennedy Moore, Edie Berke, Keller Wallin
Green Valley's team consisted of: Miles Hartman, Haven Reynolds, Wendell Sanders, Kinsley Coffey, Brooke Turlington, Ellie Sebastian, Sierra Costner, Rylee Wilhelm, Audrey Mikkola, Alice Kannon, Ashlyn Prince, Catherine Rusch, Grayson Wilder, Lauren Sanders, Savana Costner, Nathaniel Walker and Bethany Weant.
