District 181 Readers Shine in Annual Battle of the Books

For the 13th consecutive year, District 181 students participated in Battle of the Books, a friendly competition among the District’s seven elementary schools that challenges students’ knowledge of select fiction and non-fiction books. Each school first holds competitions among the 4th and 5th graders to determine their representative teams. In some schools, as many as 50 students participate in this first round. The top team from each school comes to the District-level Battle, which took place in early February this year. The five-member teams “buzz in” to answer questions about specific characters, events and themes from the books, which are chosen collaboratively by the schools’ Media Resource Center (MRC) Directors. They coordinate the program in partnership with the Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills public libraries. The libraries make additional copies of the chosen books available for check out, create certificates for all participants, and a library staff member serves as the emcee on the day of the competition.

Monroe School MRC Director Maureen Miks compares the students’ excitement to that of players in the Super Bowl. “We see students’ enthusiasm about this event build throughout the year, and it’s all because of reading and academic knowledge. Our District 181 students continue to demonstrate not only an understanding of the books they’ve read, but also a passion and enthusiasm for the books, as well.”

The Prospect School team successfully defended their 2012 title and won this year’s Battle of the Books. Team members included Maddie Czerwiec, Nick Lynch, Emmett Drew, Conor Bonino, and Kyle Walch. Prospect School MRC Director Rebecca Haagsma and 2nd grade teacher Beth Nolin were the co-leaders of the school’s team.