February 17, 2011

Reading becomes varsity competition at OHMS
"Varsity" readers at Oak Harbor Middle School put themselves to the test, competing in a game show format to see which reading team could claim the school's literary championship. The "Battle of the Books" was all for fun, but proved a strong motivator for 40 students who volunteered at the beginning of the school year to read 30 books. This was not all easy reading, either.

It included books, such as The War of the Worlds, Jane Eyre, and Robinson Crusoe. In the end, five teams raced the clock to answer specific questions about each book, with the team \thanators + 1" taking first place. Librarian Alice Mikos served as emcee and coordinator for the event, meaning she personally had to read all 30 books.

The event was one more indicators, she noted, that students are enthusiastic for reading. Consider this: During the first semester at OHMS, students read a total of 5,049 books; roughly 222 million words; spending on average 25 minutes a day independently reading books.

First Place: 8thanators + 1:
Caleb Konovaloff, Michael Uttmark, Shannon Ricciardi, Payton Rollag (Kayla Nagel not present)

Second Place: Band Kids:
Noelle Gasper, Nathanial Bennett, Mallory Hunt (Hailey Pearce and Darlene Salcedo not present)

Third Place: Pagemasters:
Darrien Maxwell, Allison Winch, Christopher Levy, Callie Paxton (Andrew Snyder not present)