Walton, Shallowford Falls Win Cobb Reading Bowl

Teams from two East Cobb schools are county Reading Bowl champions.

For the second year in a row, Walton High School took first place in the high school division of the Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. 

Meanwhile, Shallowford Falls Elementary School won the elementary division during last weekend's competition at Awtrey Middle School. 

Walton and Shallowford Falls have qualified for regional competition Feb. 2 at the University of West Georgia. 

Here's a description of the competition from Barbara Powell-Schager, a library media specialist at Big Shanty Intermediate School and the Cobb coordinator for the Reading Bowl. Thanks to her for the photos:


High school students read the nominated books for the Georgia Teen Peach Book Award. Middle and elementary students read the nominated books for the Georgia Book Awards. In six rounds of competition teams compete against each other. Factual questions about the books are asked.

To respond to a question, competitors use a game show style buzzer system. The first student to buzz, responds. If he/she answers the question correctly their team earns 10 points. Thus, speed and accuracy is the name of the game! Winning teams are those that earn the most cumulative points. Due to the round robin nature of the competition, it is impossible to know who will win until the closing ceremony.

The Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is organized by a volunteer committee of Cobb County Media Specialists. For more information: http://cobblearning.net/readingbowl/.