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Circleville High School’s team took home the trophy for the second consecutive year in the sixth annual Pickaway County High School Battle Over Books competition held April 10 at the Ohio Christian University.
Eight teams representing all four high schools in Pickaway County participated, plus teams from Logan Hocking High School. In all, more than 50 students competed in the event.
Teams earned points in a quiz-show format by correctly answering questions identifying of one of the 12 books on the reading list. This year’s books included such titles as “Graceling” by Kristin Cashore, “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien, “The Selection” by Kiera Cass, “Dead Mountain” by Donnie Eichar and “Clockwork Angel” by Cassandra Clare.
One of the highlights of the day was a video chat with Mindy McGinnis, author of one of the books in the battle, “Not A Drop To Drink.” McGinnis, a young adult writer from Ohio, spent more than an hour answering questions from students about writing techniques, publishing and creative process.
Circleville High School’s winning team included Charlee Biddle, Garion Rigsby, Danielle Stout, Melanie Osborn, Logan Burns and Brian Hodge.
Other competitors from Circleville were Serena Williams, Blake Spiller, Mariah Smith, Kitty Stevens, Charlie Gillian, Jessica Lear, Christian Sprague, Johnathon Weston, Cheryl Imler, Dylan Brooks, Carter Ward, Kayli Imler, Emily Dengler and Logan Wolfe.
The team was coached by teacher librarian Trent Roberts and library clerk Terri Carter.
Participants for Logan Elm High School were Brandi Grambo, Tiffany Smolinski, Nash Crosby, Avery King, Micaela Bartram, Emma Baldinger, Kaitlynn Esquibel, Alex Polacek, Zane Stant and Lisa Bailey. The team was coached by teacher librarian Jarod Lloyd.
Participants for Teays Valley High School were Carmon Nungester, Ashley Detty, Sydney Walker, Alyson Gritter, Rebecca Delong, Georgia Drost, Gaby McCain, Bella McCain, Cheyenne Eldridge, Cheyenne Van Gundy, Tiera Wiles, Kaitylyn Arledge, Megan Fisher and Lydia Fitzpatrick. The team was coached by teacher librarian Lisa Campbell.
Participants for Westfall High School were Kaitlynn Sandstrom, Becky Mathes, Mason Tirtonegoro-Potts, Jenny Mathes, Megan O’Quin, Nikki Howard, Jessica Pierce, Adam Horvath-Smith and Kasey Hill. The team was coached by teacher librarian Cheryl Lorson.
Participants for Logan-Hocking High School were Keith McManaway, Nicholas Kudlapur, Isis Lamore, Jadyn Watkins, Abram Maccabee, Sam Riggs and Mary Kinney. The team was coached by language arts teacher Ben Taulbee.
Volunteers from the Friends of the Pickaway County District Public Library served as scorekeepers, judges and timers. They included Sharyn Blecha, Carol Bowling, Elaine Cook, Sandy Edgar, Lynn Kraus and Paula Prindle. Barbara Meister acted as host for Ohio Christian University. Michelle Callahan from the Pickaway County Public Library helped coordinate the event.
“I love it when students get excited about reading books,” says Trent Roberts, teacher-librarian at Circleville High School. “The chance to visit with author Mindy McGinnis was a great opportunity to learn about the writing process.”
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
