HAYDEN — The Bookworms lined up to battle Monday for the schoolwide reading championship.
Twenty-eight students in grades three through five from Atlas Elementary School participated in the district’s first Battle of the Books contest.
“I think that was really cool,” said fifth-grader Logan Shaw, who is part of the winning team, the Librarians.
“I think it was really competitive,” said teammate Jacob Smith.
“But everyone also had really good sportsmanship,” Logan added.
The boys said they were happy to win the championship. Students formed teams of three to five students of the same level, reading 16 books collected by a collaboration of librarians across the state.
The mission of the program is to encourage and recognize students who love to read, share the love of reading, and improve reading comprehension and teamwork.
Logan said he read each book once or twice to prepare. The students began reading the books in October and participated in mock battles in February.
Earlier this month, they determined which of the three fourth-year teams and four fifth-year teams would be the two finalists in each division for the championship rounds.
School librarian Sara Grimm moderated the event and each team took turns answering reading comprehension questions from the selected books, earning points for correct answers.
Jacob said he was nervous during the competition.
“It was very nerve-wracking to sit up there,” Logan added.
This was the first year that the Coeur d’Alene School District participated in the Battle of the Books.
“The kids surprised me,” Grimm said. “They worked a lot harder than expected.”
Grimm said she finds it cool that a lot of students come to the library at lunchtime to practice together.
“It showed me that they really meant it,” she said.
Contest winners received a basket of reading prizes, including gift cards to The Well-Read Moose, half of which were given away.
Bob and Joyce Rusche came to see their granddaughter Ava Rusche compete.
“She was with the librarians,” Joyce Rusche said.
“Champions,” Bob Rusche added, beaming.
