Victory Brings First State Title to CMS
Ballntyne, N.C. – After reading 27 books and competing in four competitions, Jay M. Robinson Middle School was crowned May 7 as the Battle of the Books state champion. It’s the first CMS school ever win the state title. The nine-member team previously won the learning community, district and regional competitions.
Jay M. Robinson Middle and eight other middle schools across the state competed for the state title at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Sponsored by the North Carolina School Library Media Association, Battle of the Books is a middle school reading incentive program to encourage students to broaden reading interests and increase reading comprehension. Schools often begin preparing during the summer and continue throughout the school year until the competition begins the following spring.
Team members, who are coached by media specialists Danielle Raj and Geri Gelina, include Sharath Rama, Michelle Zhao, Emma Hankins, Haley Reid, Olivia Lane, Ann Hu, Chloe Fang, Bhargavi Bhaskar and Nefer Batsuli.
To prepare for the competition, Jay M. Robinson’s students read, discussed and quizzed each other on books from a designated list of 27 selections, including the classic “White Fang” and the 2009 Newbery Award winner “The Graveyard Book.”
“Throughout the state competition, the students from Robinson were poised and focused. Going into the final round it became apparent that Robinson and Aycock Middle would need to play a tiebreaker. At the last minute, Pilot Mountain Middle scored enough points to make it a three-way tie,” said Joanne Dawson, who is a program specialist in the media services department at CMS. “Robinson remained calm and confident as they outplayed the competition and secured the championship.”
As the state winner, Robinson won a trophy and each student received a medallion. While the students will surely savor this win for a long time, they are already preparing to defend their state title as next year’s list for the 2010-2011 Battle of the Book competition has already been released.
Click here for more information on Battle of the Books.
