Robert H. Jackson Center 2022 Battle of the Books participants are pictured. Persell Middle School students, along with students from across the county, participated in the literacy competition.

The Robert H. Jackson Center recently held a county “Battle of the Books” with the help of JPS Technology Integration Specialists, Jeff Kresge and Jason Kathman. Persell Middle School students had the fun, and educational, opportunity to participate. The Jackson Center’s Battle of the Books started as an idea hatched by five Jamestown students and it has now grown to include students of six different districts and about 50 students. The lighthearted and joyous atmosphere created by the Battle participants shows that reading should be a communal experience focused on discovery and fun. The Battle introduces kids to new ideas, new friends, and a sense of belonging all in the pursuit of literacy.

“I love to read and am pretty competitive so I loved doing the Battle of the

Books,” said Persell eighth grader, Siena Loomis. “It also allowed me to meet new friends from my school in other grade levels and also from other schools. We joked that there were a lot of nerds in one room but it gave kids an opportunity, who may not want to participate in sports, a chance to compete and have fun.”

The “Battle of the Books” began with Chautauqua Institution in 2017 for fifth graders. The Jamestown kids finished second and wanted to continue, but Chautauqua’s Battle is only for grade five. The kids asked if a competition could be created between the three middle schools. With Casey Leenders, Alyssa Raimondo, and Jason Williams volunteering to lead their schools’ teams, JPS had a local competition for grades 6 to 8 in 2019 with Persell emerging victorious at the Jackson Center.

Seeing the fun the kids were having, the Jackson Center asked if they could take over the JPS competition and spread it to other districts in the county. A grant was secured from the Rotary Club of Jamestown and their Literacy Committee to buy books from the Good Neighbor Bookstore to keep the competition as local as possible. The expanded competition was all set to go in 2020, and then COVID hit. In October, the competition was re-started and new competitors were found to join with six teams from Sherman, Frewsburg, Westfield, Chautauqua Lake, Southwestern and Persell.

The competition was held in six rounds. Twelve books were broken up into grade bands – four books each intended for grades six, seven and eight. JPS provided an iPad for each team to use and each team answered approximately 55 questions in each of the 13-minute rounds using software called Kahoot. Teams needed to discuss and respond quickly, earning points based on accuracy and speed. This created a high-energy and fun environment with instant feedback for both the teams and audience members alike. Students cheered each and every correct response over the course of the two-hour competition.

“I love to read and was excited to do something to do with books,” said Persell seventh grader Evony Carr. “The Battle forced me out of my comfort zone and to talk to a lot of people. It was so much fun to do it with all of the other schools.”

The books read were First Rule of Punk (Celia C. Perez), Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster (Jonathan Auxier), Front Desk (Kelly Yang), Chasing Vermeer (Blue Balliet), The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan), Allies (Alan Gratz), As Brave as You (Jason Reynolds), Finding Langston (Lesa Cline-Ransome), The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling), Solo (Kwame Alexander) and Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes). The books were selected based on reading level, reader feedback, content and style.

When the smoke cleared, 343 questions had been asked. The final results were: 6th place – Frewsburg, 5th place – Southwestern, 4th – Persell, 3rd – Sherman, 2nd – Westfield and 1st – Chautauqua Lake. The champion Chautauqua Lake was made up of only 6th graders but, at 14 members, was the largest team.

The Jackson Center’s Battle of the Books is always in need of support and/or sponsorship. If you know of anyone who’d like to help, please contact Kristan McMahon at the Jackson Center at kmcmahon@roberthjackson.org or 716-483-6646