Haven’s Reading Olympics team won its third blue ribbon in a row at the annual competition held at Springton Lake Middle School on March 23, testing the team’s knowledge of books they were assigned to read over the year.
The team is tasked with reading 45 books and has to answer questions on them, competing against other teams from nearby schools, from whom they can steal questions from. To get the blue ribbon, the team must reach a threshold of 50 points.
For three years in a row, the team has succeeded at getting blue ribbons.
“We’re competing against a bunch of different high schools, but it’s not really competitive,” senior Liliana Fletcher said. “It’s more competing against yourself to get a high score to get a ribbon.”
With fewer students participating this year, the team relied on a core of experienced members.
“It was just really hectic,” Reading Olympics President and junior Joy Yang said. “But the fact that we persevered through, figured everything out, and still managed to get a blue ribbon [makes me] really proud of the team.”
While reading 45 books may feel like a monumental task, the team divides up the workload.
“Everyone really pulled through,” Yang said. “Everyone took more books on.”
With a smaller team size, which includes two graduating seniors, Reading Olympics is looking to expand. Its members believe it can offer a lot to Haven students.
“If you like reading and a little bit of competition, you should join, and it’s really fun,” vice president and senior Kathleen Kelly said.
The team has allowed its members to grow as readers, with books such as “The Reader” by Bernhard Schlink and “The Serpent King” by Jeff Zentner cited as highlights.
“I love to read a little bit more than I used to,” Kelly said.
Although several seniors will depart this year, Yang believes the skills of the remaining members and a new rule being passed for the competition make a fourth blue ribbon in a row a real possibility.
“They’re cutting the number of books we need to read from 45 to 30, and that’s a lot more manageable,” Yang said. “We’ve been doing really well, and I think the current juniors on the team, for instance, will always be strong enough to still carry the strength over even as the seniors leave.”
