Battle of the Books returns to the Souza Center in Santa Maria

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - ‘America’s Battle of the Books’ was held in Santa Maria on Tuesday at the Souza Student Support Center.

This was a return to familiar turf for the competition.

The idea of reading competitions has been around in schools for well over a hundred years.

At 25 years old, ‘America's Battle of the Books’ has been adopted into school curriculums all around the world.

‘It's a national organization. And we get our questions from there, from Battle of the Books,” says Kelly Hargett, El Camino Jr. High School’s English and Language Development coach.

Students read books in groups and test their knowledge with a variety of games and competitions.

“They send out a list every year. They have an elementary, and then they have a six through eight middle school that we use every year,” says Hargett.

During the pandemic in 2020, the competition had to go virtual, and staff say it was clear the students weren't engaged nearly as much.

“So last year, we decided to go back and do an in-person, and we held it at El Camino,” says Hargett.

This year's competition has students returning to the Souza Center.

Staffers are thrilled to be hosting the competition once again.

“I love seeing the kids from the different schools intermingling and talking about books. It's awesome,” says Hargett.

The list chosen by Battle of the Books contains 28 titles; this year, the junior highs challenged themselves by choosing an additional two books.

“My favorite book that I've read this year was A Long Way from Chicago. And I liked that book because it was filled with a lot of funny stories. I'd say my favorite genre is like mysteries because I like detective stories,” says Royal Augustt, an eighth-grade student at Fesler Junior High.

The three junior highs that competed this year hope to see other schools around the Santa Maria Valley return to the competition in the coming years.

Your news team was notified this afternoon that El Camino Jr. High beat defending champion Fesler Junior High.