On March 23, 2024, Diagonal Battle of the Books (often referred to as BOB) competed at our annual competition at Dallas Center Grimes. This team of 5th-8th graders; Hailey Grandfield, Jackson Gunsolley, Elizabeth Gunsolley, Zoey Grandfield, and Henry Huber spent their school year reading 20 books in preparation for this one time event. The team began strong during our pool play, but lost the first match in the bracket play. It's always a challenge to prepare for this competition. Questions are submitted by student participants and can be very literal like "In what book is the main character wearing a green and white shirt?" Out of 20 books read, this type of question is extremely hard to answer so competition success is largely dependent on the questions. To have experienced success in the pool play bracket and to get to the bracket play, is a feat to be proud of! I'm so very thankful for these students who put in the extra time to read 20 books and meet after school even though they are in many outside of school organizations and sport camps! Each year we make progress so I know that next year will be even better!!
Diagonal Battle of the Books (BOB) team pictured L-R; Henry Huber, Jackson Gunsolley, Elizabeth Gunsolley, Zoey Grandfield, Hailey Grandfield, and Kim Nieman.