Payne Elementary took the honors winning the 2016 Battle of the Books. Winning team members from left are: Malia Wittwer, Laura Stoller, Therin Coyne, Cameron Stoller, Kate Laukhuf and Morgan Hefner.
For the second year in a row, Payne Elementary School’s Battle of the Books team was victorious in this countywide reading competition. The team, made up of a fifth grader and five six graders, answered more questions correctly to ease out a win over Grover Hill’s team during the April 13th finals. The Battle of the Books is a literary competition between Paulding County schools and home-schooled children sponsored by the Paulding County Carnegie Library. Teams made up of 5th and 6th graders compete by answering questions about books on the Battle of the Books list. The list and books are supplied to each elementary school and library location at the beginning of the school year. The winning school receives a trophy and each team in the finals receives special medals. This year’s competing teams represented Antwerp, Oakwood, Payne, Grover Hill, Paulding and Divine Mercy.
“This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Battle in Paulding County,” states Susan Pieper, Library Director. “The program has grown to be very competitive and exciting. It was great to see principals, teachers, family and friends rooting on their teams in this competition of brain-power.”
“What made this year’s competition unique is that many of the books were titles from the past century. The library is celebrating its centennial this year and it was our goal to encourage young readers to read the same books their parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents might have read,” shared Pieper.
“We are so grateful for our sponsors who help make this program possible,” shares Sara Molitor, Head of Youth Services. “Dr. Larry Tope and Dr. Jeffery Rhees, DDS make it possible for each finalist team to receive t-shirts and Lafarge provides funding for the Battle books to be placed in the elementary school libraries each year. We could not have a successful battle without their support.”
For more information about the Battle of the Books competition or if you would like to help sponsor the 2017 competition, contact the library at 419-399-2032.
