The 10th annual Central Ohio 8th Grade Battle of the Books competition, hosted by Heritage Middle School, and organized by Kris Konik, Media Specialist at Heritage and Debbie Pellington, Gifted Facilitator at Heritage and Genoa, took place at Westerville North High School on Thursday, March 14. Each of Westerville’s four middle schools competed, along with other Central Ohio teams from Delaware, Olentangy, Jonathan Alder and Teays Valley. Teams buzzed in with correct answers about titles from the 18-book list in a Jeopardy-style contest.
The contest celebrates reading a wide genre of great books. Westerville readers earned high honors with Walnut Springs Middle School winning first place (Coach Julie Doel), followed by Heritage in second place (Coaches Mindy Holmes and Molly Miller), Genoa in third (Coach Deanna McDaniel), and Blendon in fourth place (Coach Brianna Swanson). All competitors enjoyed a pizza lunch following the award ceremony.
The event is supported by the middle schools and the Gifted Education Department.