Last week, the Battle of the Books club members gathered for the final time this school year to celebrate reading 12 books. Over 35 fifth and sixth graders participated in this extracurricular activity, and several of them competed in our Basilica School Battle on Tuesday, April 8. To top it off, our Team performed exceedingly well at the Diocese-wide competition on Wednesday, May 14. Congratulations to the following students for winning:

 

Division First Place: Verbal Round (they also scored the highest of all 21 teams) 

Silver Award: Overall Score, Diocese-wide 

 

Team Members

Ethan Griffith (Scribe)

James Hay

Evelyn Lushenko (Speaker)

Maeve Seguine

Audrey Shannon

 

Alternates

Lucy Barnett

James Costello

Noah Dell

Annie Hubbard

Lauren Rudy

Aria Waters

 

"What is a Verbal Round?"  

Teams from each school take turns answering five different questions that are randomly selected. They have one minute to collaborate on an answer that must include the title, author, and both parts of the question for full points. The Team Speaker then announces the answer in the microphone for the audience to hear, and a panel of four judges to score.  

 

Leah stated, "It was great to see our students in action. I was impressed with their preparation, as well as their ability to recall and communicate, verbally and in writing, what they knew under pressure. The Alternate members were cheering on our team, and were so helpful in sharing their knowledge of the books."

It was a team effort all around, including the invaluable help of our coaches, Mrs. Hay, Miss Madden, and Susan McCormack. Three cheers!