Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

  • Parents, teachers, librarians and over 300 students from 16 different archdiocesan and independent Catholic schools turned out for the 16th annual Battle of the Books at St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, May 10. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Mayor Derek Easterling of Kennesaw gives a motivational charge to the students before they set off for competition during the 16th annual Battle of the Books at St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Angela Williams, a librarian at Marist School, Atlanta, served as the mistress of ceremonies in the morning and she posed questions to the teams during the final competitions in the afternoon. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Queen of Angels librarian Sue Van Rooyen, standing in the background, presented book questions to the fifth-grade teams during the semifinal round. Each grade level, third through eighth, subdivided by an “A” and “B” team, competed in their respective rooms to determine which 12 teams would compete in the Battle of the Books finals. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • (Clockwise, from bottom right) Beno Varghese, her four-year-old daughter Rachel Abraham, Shylaja Sivaprakasam, Varghese’s mother-in-law Molly Abraham, and her husband Moby Abraham hung out in the gymnasium while the students were away for some 90 minutes competing in the semifinals. The two families had daughters competing at different grade levels for St. John Neumann Regional School, Lilburn. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Using different methods and devices, Holy Spirit Preparatory School teachers (l-r) Whitney Wright, fourth grade, Leslie Hein, third grade, and Kathy Ann Nixon, fourth grade, get some work done in the gymnasium, while the students are away competing in the Battle of the Books semifinal round. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • While the students were away for some 90 minutes competing in the Battle of the Books semifinals, St. John Neumann Regional School parents (counterclockwise, from middle left) Meg Rubin, Urcina Soto, Aneta Mazurkiewicz, Tres Scott, Nicole Smith and Amy Lampert found ways to keep themselves busy in the school gymnasium. Lampert had a daughter competing on the sixth-grade team, but she is also a fifth-grade teacher at the school. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Upon returning from the semifinal competitions, some teams like the third-graders from Queen of Angels School, Roswell, bottom right, received hugs and smiles from elated parents and teachers after sharing the good news of making the finals. Their fifth-grade team also made the finals. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Students, from all schools and grades, break for lunch on the recess field before the finals get underway at noon. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Queen of Angels students (l-r) Julianne Romine, Isabella Sutapaha, Paula Elizarreras and Caitlyn Ymbras exhibit the thrill of victory after winning the finals for third-graders. Queen of Angels School, Roswell, will host the Battle of the Books in 2019. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • From afar the discussion between Our Lady of the Assumption School teammates cannot be heard, but sometimes the eyes speak volumes. In this instance, Claire Schepp, Nicole Chinchilla. Ella Weber and Cate Prophater dialogue during the fourth-grade finals as they ponder the answer to a question. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • The St. Thomas More School fifth-grade team of (l-r) Katie Swartz, Elliott Seng, Lyla Gilmer and Addison Elmore give some serious thought to a question. It paid off, because they defeated their opponents by a score of 12-9. Three points are given for each correct answer during five rounds of questioning. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Ella Jacobs, second from left, and her other three teammates from St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, including Michael Saenz, far left, can’t believe their answer to the question was incorrect during the Battle of the Books. Their team rebounded and won the final competition among seventh-graders 9-6. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • (L-r) Chiara Zaccagnino and her teammates from St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, Paige Woodham and Catherine Geiger-Costa, were relieved when they answered a difficult question correctly. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • The eighth-grade Battle of the Books team from St. Joseph School, Athens, (l-r) Daphne Crawford, Jude Paradela, Patrick Holmes and Rachel Duncan successfully answer a question to push the competition beyond the customary five rounds. St. Joseph defeated host school, St. Catherine of Siena, 21-18 in an epic 10-round clash. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Notre Dame Academy, Duluth, had winners (l-r) among their sixth-grade team, Anissa Ottley, Ashley McDonough Sydney Anderson and Grace Maloney, and their fourth-grade team, Rebecca Murphy, McKenzie Jenny, Anna Grace Bang, and Veronica Kavanaugh. Standing between them in the background is Emily Smolynsky, the school librarian. Photo By Michael Alexander

Parents, teachers, librarians and over 300 students from 16 different archdiocesan and independent Catholic schools turned out for the 16th annual Battle of the Books at St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, May 10. Photo By Michael Alexander

Kennesaw

Annual ‘Battle of Books’ creates lifelong readers

Published May 25, 2018

KENNESAW—St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, hosted the best readers in third through eighth grades at the 16th annual Battle of the Books May 10.

School teams from both independent and archdiocesan Catholic schools read the 2018 list of books for their specific grade level before the competition. Librarians formulate questions based on each book and teams make their way through rounds designed to test knowledge and comprehension of the books read.

Mayor of Kennesaw Derek Easterling inspired the competitors before the challenge with a motivational talk.

Angela Williams of Marist School, Atlanta, served as master of ceremonies. Williams said in the years of the competition, finalists have read more than 85,000 books collectively.

“No one can deny the time, effort and talent put into this exciting academic program to promote reading on a fun and competitive level by students and teachers,” she said.