Norwayne Middle Students Win District “Battle of the Books” Competition
Goldsboro, N.C. - On Friday, March 10, Norwayne Middle students won the Wayne County Public Schools (WCPS) 31st annual Battle of the Books competition in a “double overtime tie breaker match.” The competition took place at the Dillard/Goldsboro Alumni Cultural Center with approximately 80 students from 9 middle schools competing.
“This is the first time we are aware of in the 31 years that this event has been held that the district competition had to have a first place tie breaker event,” states Dr. David Lewis, Assistant Superintendent for Accountability/IT Services. “At the end of the regularly scheduled contest, the Norwayne Middle and Wayne School of Engineering teams were tied at 139 points each. It took two extra rounds to break the tie, and in the end, Norwayne prevailed as district champion.”
Sponsored by the North Carolina School Library Media Association, Battle of the Books is a quiz bowl type competition, specifically designed for students in grades 6 through 8. Students at participating schools read books from a list established by the state Battle of the Books committee, and then compete to test their knowledge of the books. This year’s book list consisted of 27 titles.
The Norwayne Middle team will now move on to the regional competition, to be held March 21, at the Minnie Evans Arts Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. The team will compete against other middle school teams that won their district competitions.
“We congratulate the Norwayne Middle team for their success and wish them the very best in the next level of the competition.
The Norwayne Middle 2016-2017 team consists of Erin Alonzo, Avery Bass, Christopher Carlson, Titus Dezern, Ashlyn Johnson, Melody Lefkowitz, Micky Lenzi, Emma Lutz, Karley Madden, Jasmine Mendez, Skylar Ratliff, and Makenzy Schinsky. The team was coached by Rhonda Nichols and Marah Radford.
The Battle of the Books program is coordinated by the Media Center program at participating schools. Organizers state that Battle of the Books competition is a great way to motivate students to read and be exposed to quality literature.
Wayne School of Engineering took second place. Their team consists of Dantzler Bonner, Jay Bass, Libby Breeze, Isaac Carreno, Brianna Egan, Evan Gray, Mills Hancock, Meher Hogarty, Christina Lancaster, Vismai Taneti, Vismitha Taneti, and Katie Wagner. The team is coached by Sandy Brannan, Katie Kimble, and Camryn King.
In addition to Norwayne Middle and Wayne School of Engineering, other schools that participated in the competition include: Dillard Middle, Eastern Wayne Middle, Grantham Middle, Greenwood Middle, Mount Olive Middle, Rosewood Middle, and Spring Creek Middle.
“All of the students did a great job representing their schools,” adds Dr. Lewis. “We appreciate the hard work of the students and coaches, and we are grateful for the volunteers who came out to support the event. We were especially happy to see so many family members come out to support their kids.”
