J. Clarke Richardson’s Battle of the Books team participated in an annual book competition on May 9th. Although the team did not place, they were still fine representatives of our school.
For those who are unfamiliar with Battle of the Books, it is a competition between Durham schools to test their knowledge about specific books. Competition categories include Junior, Senior, and White Pine. Juniors include grades 4-6, Seniors represent grades 7-8, and White Pine are for those in grades 9-12. The chosen books are picked out by librarians and are all written by Canadian authors. Teams have a maximum of 6 members and 3 substitutes to answer 12 regular questions and 10 ‘lightning’ questions. The top 3 teams that answers the most questions correctly face against each other to determine an overall winner. As a reward for winning, each team member receives a medal corresponding to their ranking (1st = Gold 2nd = Silver 3rd = Bronze) and a free book.
This year, the winners of the 2019 Battle of Books competition were All Saints Catholic Secondary School (taking first place), Pickering High School (second place) and Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School (finishing third). Vicki Grant, author of 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You, was the featured author this year. Grant delivered a strong presentation about useful writing tips for developing writers as well as some interesting life stories. Usually, there are around 10-12 participating schools but there were only 7 schools attending this year. Even though there were less schools, the competition was still fun and worthwhile. If you want to join next year, meetings start in February of each year. Listen to announcements for more specific times and dates.
