The 10th annual Central Ohio 6th and 7th Grade Battle of the Books Competition took place at the McCoy Performing Arts Center in New Albany on May 13. Each of Westerville’s four middle schools competed along with other Central Ohio teams from Hamilton, Whitehall, Columbus, Groveport-Madison, New Albany-Plain Local, St. Brigid, and Canal Winchester. Teams buzzed in with correct answers about titles from the 20-book list in a Jeopardy-style contest. The event was sponsored by the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio and the National Football League Alumni Group of Central Ohio, with district support from each middle school and the Language Arts and Gifted Education departments.
The purpose of the competition was to celebrate readers and the joy of reading. Westerville readers earned high honors and were presented awards from Calvin Murray, a former Ohio State Buckeye football Most Valuable Player, Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears running back, and a member of the National Football League Alumni Group of Central Ohio.
Out of 17 teams, Genoa won 1st place, followed by Blendon in 4th place, Walnut Springs in 6th, and Heritage in 8th. Special medals were awarded to Gabby Freshly of Blendon and Meg Foster of Walnut Springs for reading all 20 competition books. Competitors enjoyed a pizza party and book discussions following the award ceremony.