Battle of the books team earns 5th at district competition

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February 16, 2010 • Meg Mielke, Editor  
Filed under 2009-2010

On Thursday, February 4, the Chugiak High School Battle of the Books team competed at the district-wide competition.  After battling 11 teams representing different schools in the Anchorage School District, the Mustangs came in 5^th place.  While some members who were on the team last year felt disappointment after coming in 1^st place last year, the team of Matthew Newkirk, Shealyn Golden, Nicole Warner and Kaeli Stangl still represented Chugiak well.

Battle of the Books is a scholastic competition where teams of students answer trivia style questions based on a certain list of books that are chosen each year to be the selected works.  In the actual competition, three students compete during each round answering a question, with the answer always being the title of a book, as well as its author.  Teams have 30 seconds to answer each question.  On each team, there is one designated writer and one designated spokesman for the team.  At the district competition, there were three rounds of 16 questions each.  Each question has a maximum point value of eight points, with five points for the title of the book and three for the author.

One interesting thing about the Battle of the Books competition is the ability for students to challenge the question.  If students believe that one question could apply to more than one book that was read during the series, they can challenge it, by having a 2 minute period of time to use the books to find the selection proving them right.  Each round guarantees three challenges.

When asked what her favorite part of battle of the books is, Coach Sally Jo Cook stated, “It’s just fun to read and get excited about books, and have someone to trash a book with or enjoy a book with.  It becomes a family; we meet every Tuesday starting in September and we do practice questions.  In February, students get to miss a day of school, and Ms. Eby always makes brownies.”

For those who like to read, compete and eat brownies, be sure to join Chugiak High School’s Battle of the Books team next year.

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