The team from La Grange Elementary School racked up the right answers and the points in cruising to victory in the LCPS Elementary Battle of the Books, the school’s second win in three years.
The Battle of the Books tests students’ knowledge of books from a common reading list of 18 titles through questions related to content. Teams of fourth and fifth graders from all nine elementary schools in the district competed in a round-robin format Friday.
La Grange’s 151 points put distance between it and the competition. By contrast, only 11 points separated the second- and fifth-place teams. Moss Hill Elementary and Southwood Elementary both finished with 113 points, but second place went to Moss Hill and third to Southwood on the basis of most battles won. Contentnea-Savannah K-8 finished third with 112 point and Pink Hill Elementary placed fifth with 101 points.
“They just love to read,” said La Grange fifth-grade teacher Judy Harrison, who coaches the team with librarian coach Senatra Murrell. Team members, all fifth graders, were chosen from a pool of applicants based on their library activity and performance on AR, or Accelerated Reader, tests on books read.
Team members tackled the reading list early in the school year and later began scrimmaging, with the team divided into squads that competed against each other. “We practiced really hard for about two weeks before the competition,” Harrison said.
A Battle of the Books coach at La Grange for nine years, Harrison has seen her teams log four wins. “We seem to win every other year,” she said.
As the 2017 champ, La Grange Elementary will represent LCPS in the regional Battle of the Books, to be held April 28 at Teachers Memorial Training Center in Kinston.
