Norwayne Middle School wins county 'Battle of the Books'

From staff reports

Norwayne Middle School defended its title in the Wayne County Public Schools' 22nd annual "Battle of the Books" competition recently. This is the third year in a row that the school team won the district competition.

The event took place at Dillard Middle School with 57 students from six middle schools competing.

Norwayne will now compete against teams from other school districts that qualified for the regional event, scheduled for April 10 at the Performing Arts Center in Kinston.

Norwayne's team included Mackenzie Baker, Nick Cassady, Brianna Holland, Jenna Hussey, Andrew Merritt, Gabrielle Morales, Makayla Morales, Jonathan Nichols, Evan Trent, Hope Trent, Maddie Vera, Karissa Walters and Ashley Newsome as an alternate. Coaches are Rhonda Nichols and Pam Lipcsak.

"Battle of the Books" is a quiz bowl type competition that encourages reading, and is specifically designed for students, grades 6 through 8. Students at participating schools read books from a list established by the state "Battle of the Books" committee, and then compete to test their knowledge of the books.

Mount Olive Middle School finished second in the local competition. Team members included Hunter Allison, Shannon Casto, E.J. Davidson, Morgan Evans, Carlie Heath, Sarah Judy, Jordan Rhew, Chris Rice, Ana Rodriques, Trey Smith, Megan Stott and Yelsi Velasquez. The coaches are Kevin Casto and Gwen McPhail.

Other schools that participated in the competition include Eastern Wayne Middle, Grantham School, Greenwood Middle and Spring Creek High.

By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on March 23, 2008 02:00 AM