Reading competition competes at Bellwood

Since the beginning of the school year the reading competition teams have practiced for their yearly competition at Bellwood High School. 

Within the school, 17 students worked on reading and meeting once a week to prepare for their competition in mid November. 

The reading competition team is organized early in the year.  Students form teams and read books to prepare for competition.  At competition, they compete in three rounds of questions with 30 questions in each round.  

“Reading competition is when a team competes with other schools in the IU8; we compete on the comprehension of 40 novels,” Librarian Justina McCaulley said.   

For students who enjoy reading, this is a club where they come together with other students who enjoy reading. 

“It’s good activity to make friends that share the common interest of reading,” McCaulley said. 

This is McCaulley’s first year of being head adviser of reading competition.

“I joined because being in the library I see a lot of strong readers, and it’s an easy platform for me to recruit in the library,” McCaulley said. 

With reading competition there was one practice a week until the competition. 

“We practice every Thursday from September to the competition day which is usually in November,” McCaulley said. 

The competition is at Bellwood High School and involves other schools within the lU8. 

“The monitors will ask us questions about the 40 books we read and the team leader gives the answer for the 30 questions a round,” said McCaulley. 

There were a total of 17 students this year seven; many of them were seventh graders. 

“I had a really young team this year but that shows we have some young leaders in the building,” McCaulley said. 

Usually there is one team but this year there were two separate  teams.

“It was difficult competing with eight kids on one team and nine kids on the other; these kids had to do a lot of reading,” McCaulley said. 

Reading competition starts in elementary school and follows through the junior high and high school.

“I did it in elementary school, and I had a good time. I started doing this in fifth  grade,” eighth grader Stayley Drenning said.

All of the Thursday practices were held in the library and students picked four or five books to read.

“During the practices you go down to the library and read, but the last three practices you do a trial run with your team and you answer the questions we make for the books,” Drenning said. 

For the students who are looking for something to do and to meet new people, the next year reading competition is something to look into. 

“It’s something really fun to do and less competitive than other activities,” seventh grader Jayden Beeny said.