LMPS students beat Germantown and Arlington in BOTB competition tonight

LMPS students won two for two in a Battle of the Books (BOTB) competition tonight in the school library against rivals from Germantown and Arlington.

The 23-member team from Lakeland Middle Preparatory School (LMPS) handily beat Riverdale Middle School, Germantown, in round 2 of bracket play: 71 to 26.  LMPS then competed against Arlington Middle School and easily won round 3: 65 to 45.

The team now moves to the final round which will be after spring break. They will take on the winner of the March 5^th Houston Middle School/Germantown Middle School contest.

The competition is part of the Shelby County Area Wide Middle School Battle of the Books.  Students applied for the LMPS team in September and met monthly though January, switching to weekly sessions this month.

The contest encourages independent reading for students in grades 5-8.  Students read 10 preselected books and during February and March, demonstrate their knowledge of the books by answering comprehensive content questions during game-show type competition against other participating middle schools.

Link to Google album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FLYF7n2FheD8Gzmy5

LMPS opened to grades 5-8 last year and this is the second year of their BOTB participation.

Sponsors of the LMPS program are Melissa Richarde, ELA (English Language Arts) teacher, and Bethany Christy, librarian.  Moderator was LMPS Principal Matt Adler.

 “Melissa and I work with some really awesome kids! We could not be prouder of them. I am blessed to be their librarian,” said Ms. Christy.

”It is absolutely a team effort,” said Mrs. Richarde.  “Our students spend just as much time encouraging each other as they do studying and practicing. If someone is struggling on a book, they reach out to a book “expert” for help. Our students have strengthened not only their reading skills, but also their bonds of friendship.”

                Team members and their grades

Ridley Austin, 6^th                              Kaylee Bacon, 7^th

Chole Butterfield, 6^th                       Annalise Bradford, 7^th

Hailey Brown, 5^th                             Grace Choi, 6^th

Emma Garas, 5^th                              Nathan Harrison, 5^th

Cullen Hutchens, 5^th                         Elise Lohnes, 5^th

Zoey Moore, 5^th                               Ayanna Patterson, 5^th

Emily Richarde, 8^th                           Emma Sheridan, 8^th

Erinn Sheridan, 8^th                           Conner Smith, 8^th

Porter Spiceland, 5^th                        Caolyn Snyder, 8^th

Jonathon Barnes, 8^th                        Aaron Cranston, 6^th

Ariel Ellis, 5^th                                    Ella Hawkins, 5^th

Amaya Humphreys, 6^th

Mr. Adler complimented Jonathon, noting that although he is not on the BOTB team per se, he lives in the LMPS library every day and is credited with all the hard work it took to coordinate the competition.

… Photos by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents