Somers
Library Battle of the Books Team
Winners Teen Division!!
On Saturday, October 15th 2016,
one of the Somers Library teams was declared champions of the Westchester
Library System Battle of the Books (6th – 10th
division)!!! This fun but intense battle
was the culmination of a nearly 6 month process of reading, reviewing, team
practice and dedication by all the Somers Library Battle of the Books team
members. Although our teen team won this
year, the Somers Library is very proud of both of the teams we sent to the
Battle of the Books!!
Earlier this year, we asked for Somers volunteers
from grades 4th through 10th to represent the Somers Library in the Westchester
Library System 3rd Annual Battle of the Books. The Battle of the Books is a book-based
trivia tournament for Westchester youth with the goal to promote a love of
reading, to encourage youth to think of their local public library as a
resource for entertainment and to inspire teamwork & good sportsmanship in
an atmosphere of friendly competition. The
battle teams are broken down to 2 levels:
one with teams from grades 4th-6th and the other
from grades 6th-10th.
Each team was expected to read five books, practice with their teammates
for the battle and then represent the Somers Library this October at the Battle
of the Books! Early on, we knew we had some bright, eager,
enthusiastic kids willing to take this challenge! During the summer, each team
member was given copies of the 5 books for their division, which were
generously funded by the Friends of the Somers Library. We met as a large group
during the summer, but the real intense practice sessions began with the
beginning of the school year. Each of
the teams split up to work as separate groups and each team met at least 9
times to review and practice for battle day! On the evening before the battle
we had a Pizza Party and Pep Rally to show them how much we appreciated their
hard work.
On Saturday morning October 15th at 9:00
am, our two teams gathered at the Ossining High School along with twenty seven
other teams who represented a total of 17 libraries in Westchester County. The Lightning Readers, the Somers Library children’s
team, fought valiantly and with exuberant team spirit in their age bracket and
made a great showing! The Popcornians,
the Somers Library teen team, not only knew these books extremely well, they
really bonded as a team. Each member contributed their own individual talents
to make this a battle win an example of an ultimate team effort! The battle day proved the teen division to be a very
challenging and intense battle day with a four way tie going into the
semi-finals! The Somers Library’s teen team, the Popcornians, kept their cool
during this intense process to take their place in the championship fight for
the trophy versus our neighbors from North Salem. After a scoring neck and neck early on, the
Somers pulled away with a final score of 12-3!!!
We could not have asked for a more hardworking and
dedicated group. The Somers Library
would like to thank the team members, as well as their parents, and coaches.
Additionally, the Somers Library would like to thank all the volunteer readers
& question makers. And last but not least thank you to the Friends of the
Somers Library for their financial support.
We congratulate both the teams on their amazing
dedication and teamwork:
The Somers Library Popcornians (the 6th-10th
grade team) (WLS Battle of the Books 2016 Champions): Leigha Carnow, Maria
Klimentova, Aine Hoekstra, Jordan Han, Nitin Seshadri, Max Caron, Matthew
Kushner, Marguerite Pugliese, Keira Ferretti, Jaewon Yeo and Amanda Jen.
The Somers Library Lightning Readers (the 4th-6th
grade team) included: Sean Kim, Julia Wilkinson, Jay Wilkinson, Connor Entenberg,
Nicholas Maurantonio, Sebastian Wissa, Emma Sledzik, and Sara Vala
