Lummis Elementary leads the pack in Battle of the Books
Lummis Elementary School dominated the Battle of the Books, a literary quiz competition held May 20 at Fertitta Middle School, 9905 W. Mesa Vista Ave.
Students Amanda Byerman, Andrea Gaspar, Natalie Starlin and Milcah Yohannes were on the first-place team, the Rockin Readers. They received trophies, Kindles and $50 gift cards for digital books.
The Rockin Readers defeated Readers United 470-400 in the final match.
Readers United, also representing Lummis, included Kiffyn Andreasen, Jack Grace, Isabel Reynoso and Dominik Riezle.
It was the second year in a row the Rockin Readers won.
"It's a good feeling to win again," said Milcah, "and to have Lummis come in first and second like last year."
Two teams of four students each from 12 elementary schools competed in the final.
Competing elementary schools held preliminary competitions at their schools to determine which two teams to send to the final. Some schools began with more than 30 teams. Fourth- and fifth-graders were eligible to compete.
Each first-place team from all 12 schools received small trophies, and the second-place teams received medals before the competition began.
Each school donated $150 to pay for the prizes, as well as pizza, salad and drinks for students and parents in attendance.
Kelly Reed, the assistant principal at Lummis, 9000 Hillpointe Road, coordinated the event with Richard Bryan Elementary School, 8050 Cielo Vista Ave., with help from Clark County School District teachers Anna Downing and Mike Tomorsky.
Schools were given a list of eight books at the beginning of the year that students would be quizzed on, including "Bud, Not Buddy " by Christopher Paul Curtis; "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth " by Jeff Kinney; and "The Fire Within " by Chris D'Lacey.
A committee of teachers from the 12 schools selected the books and created the questions for the competition. Students were not allowed to have any direct help from their teachers in preparation for the quiz.
Students selected questions worth between 10 and 50 points from six possible categories. The 50-point questions focused on minute details in the books, so thorough readings were necessary.
The Rockin Readers read all eight books multiple times and created 744 index cards with questions they anticipated would be asked from which to study.
They met before, during and after school several times a week to study together and even brought the cards to look at between rounds.
"Last year was luck ; this year we actually prepared," Natalie said.
The girls won last year despite reading the books once and waiting until the week before to prepare.
"It's just fun," said Amanda, "to read all those books and be able to compete on what you know about them.
"But I feel really bad for the other team. They were really, really good."
The girls said the competition opened their eyes to genres outside their comfort zone.
Lummis p rincipal Lisa McKenrick is proud of her students and happy to see so many parents encouraging their kids to read.
"It just celebrates reading," she said, "and enhances that it's OK to be smart. Sometimes as they move up in the grades, kids that are very bright sometimes start to hold back because 'it's not as cool to be smart.' "
When asked which book was their favorite, all four girls immediately answered "Out of My Mind " by Sharon M. Draper.
The protagonist is a young girl with cerebral palsy who is confined to a wheel chair.
She is a genius, but no one knows it. She desperately wants to join her school's quiz bowl team, but she can't speak or write.
She receives a device in fifth grade that enables her voice to be heard for the first time and joins the quiz team to represent her school in competition.
Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.
