Sandy Creek Central School District • News • Students compete with adults in Sandy Creek Battle of the Books spinoff

Students compete with adults in Sandy Creek Battle of the Books spinoff

March 24th, 2015 by Sarah McCrobie - Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation

Sandy Creek high school students (from left) Emily Smith, Olivia Bauer and Madeline Yousey successfully challenge one of the answers on their way to a perfect score in the district's adults versus students Battle of the Books competition.

Students in the Sandy Creek Central School District were not the only ones to put their literary knowledge to the test recently, as teachers also stepped up to the plate for a reading challenge. In a spinoff to the Battle of the Books competition, which pits student teams against one another in a literary contest, teachers were able to get in on the action as well. Teams of teachers squared off against their pupils for bragging rights and the title of "champion. "Divided into four separate battles ’ by grade level ’ the third and fourth-graders set the tone for the day as they matched their teachers question for question. Teachers Brandie Norton, Roxanne Ferguson and Mary Kubacki scored 80 points, which tied the score posted by students Sophia Luce and Hannah White. Eventually, the teachers prevailed in the fifth tiebreaker round. According to librarian Rachel Allen, the SCCS coordinator for Battle of the Books, teachers and students invested a lot of time into the event. "There are 10 books that need to be read for the competition," she said. "Sometimes they start reading during the summer and they even read the books more than once to be better prepared. Their hard work really shows. "Following the first competition of the day, the next battle was just as close, as the adult team of Karin Nemier and Buffy Peterson emerged victorious in the tiebreaker round. "This is just a fun event that brings everyone together," Nemier said. "It's nice to see the students so enthusiastic about reading. "In the sixth through eighth-grade competition, the enthusiasm continued and the adult team kept the winning streak alive as Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Whitney and Mrs. Gregg were unstoppable. However, the streak came to an end when the high school students battled it out with teachers and board of education representatives. With a perfect score, the student team of Emily Smith, Madeline Yousey and Olivia Bauer earned first place. "The whole point of this was for some friendly competition and school unity," Allen said. "This event definitely did that, and it was a lot of fun."