Whiz kids battle over books

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - There were no pep bands, no cheerleaders and no last-second touchdowns or three-point baskets, but this event was a nail-biter nonetheless.

After competing for nearly four hours, Su Valley Jr/Sr High School pulled out a sudden-death overtime victory over the Correspondence Study School team to successfully defend its year-long reign as the Mat-Su Borough School District's Battle of the Books high school champions.

The Wednesday afternoon showdown took place in a tiny library at Su Valley Jr/Sr High School, where 60 to 70 parents and spectators crowded together to support 39 competitors from Colony, Palmer, Wasilla, Su Valley and Houston high schools. Correspondence ended up taking second place, with Palmer taking third. Colony won the sportsmanship award.

During the competition, teams of at least three members answered questions about various books in a "quiz show" format.

Gayne Turner, school librarian at Su Valley, has spent the last 17 years coaching a long list of formidable Battle of the Books teams at all grade levels, including one state championship team in the late 1980s.

Last year, one of her high school teams tied for fourth place in state.

She said there is no secret to her teams' successes.

"We do a lot of reading up here and much of it has to do with the families," she said. "A lot of them don't have TV. They're big readers and they read to their children, so the children are infused with reading."

Throughout the school year, Turner works with kids in the library, during lunch hours, and she's even invited the high school teams over to her house to practice.

"These kids really enjoy reading," Turner said.

When asked if the kids ever complain about having to sacrifice other activities because of the demands of reading, Turner said she usually just hears them complaining about not being able to read other books that are coming out.

Battle of the Books district coordinator Shelly Logsdon said the program is most popular in the elementary age groups. Some teams, however, stay together year after year.

Members of the champion Su Valley team have practiced together since middle school, poring over books, memorizing facts and fueling a love of reading.

With back-to-back district titles and fourth place in state last year, the time and effort have paid off for Su Valley.

After helping kids battle for 17 years, Turner said she's noticed a few changes in the program.

"I think it has evolved," she said. "Even this year, there was so much more discussion of the books and there is a real sense of camaraderie between the competing schools. We're all readers that just enjoy books."

Logsdon estimates that roughly 55 to 60 Valley teams participate each year in Battle of the Books, from third grade through high school, with a total of about 1,200 competitors. Overall, four teams from four different age brackets will go on to represent the Mat-Su district at the state championships.

The elementary competition took place this Saturday at Sherrod Elementary and the middle school battles happen next week at Houston Middle School.

This year's winning teams will compete at state battles Feb. 15-17. During state, teams participate via teleconference, with hundreds of kids listening in.

While Turner enjoys district competitions more because of the face-to-face interaction, she said the statewide program is one of the best she's ever seen.

"I've never seen a reading incentive program get such a diversity of students involved," she said. "I've seen some aimed at honors students or struggling students, but Battle of the Books appeals to everyone."

Battle of the Books is sponsored by the Alaska Association of School Librarians. Each year, librarians and teachers choose books for the various grade levels. In October, student teams begin practicing for district competitions.

An attempt is made to vary the titles chosen as to genre and difficulty, so readers may encounter a broad range of books.

The original idea for Battle of the Books came from a radio program sponsored by the Chicago Public Library in the early 1940s. Many years after the Chicago program began, a Chicago-area school librarian, Roslyn Goodman, found her way to Kodiak and brought the Battle of the Books idea with her. She used it in Kodiak in the 1981-1982 school year and word of the program spread.

In April 1984, 14 school districts from around the state participated in the program. By the 1988-89 school year, five districts participated and several out-of-state districts requested Battle of the Books packets.

According to the state Battle of the Books Web site, the number of participating districts varies from year to year, but overall interest remains high. Last year, 43 districts competed at the state level.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.