Several years ago when I taught 5th grade at a Catholic school, we had a part-time P.E. teacher that floated between our school and the other Catholic school in town. Early in the fall one school year, she mentioned to me that the librarian at the other school wanted her to ask me if I would be interested in resurrecting our Battle of the Books team to join in their annual competition. Apparently many years prior we had competed with this other school as well as another private school in the area but for whatever reason, we stopped.
It was for an elementary team, 4th and 5th grade students only, and since I was the 5th grade teacher, I said ‘sure’. That year I joined forces with our 4th grade teacher to prepare a team for competition. For context, at my school there was only one class per grade level so our team ended up being small. We learned a lot about the competition that year. Basically, the kids have a list of 15 or so books that they need to read and become experts on. During the competition they face off in various rounds answering questions about the books. But they really needed to know their stuff. The questions were not easy. They would be very vague too. For example, a question might be like, “In what book does a young girl do her homework in the back of a car?” No names or other identifying clues are in the questions. The kids got 2 points for knowing the title of the book and an extra point for knowing the author.
Since this was the first year that we were competing, my co-teacher and I didn’t know what to expect. We knew there was a trophy that got passed on to the winner each year. Sort of like the Stanley Cup. Whoever won kept it for the year and then brought it back to pass on the next year.
We took this competition very seriously that year. We prepped those kids by quizzing them up one side and down the other. There were practice meetings every week with mock battles and strategic planning in terms of which kids would go up for each round since only 6 kids could be in a round at any given time. This was after we hand-picked the kids based on how well they were doing in our reading classes.
I will never forget how nervous I was during the competition. Those kids were ready! When all the rounds were done, there was no 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place announcement. There was only the coach from the host school announcing the winner and placing the trophy in front of the winning team. When the trophy was put in the hands of my kids that year, it was the first time in my life that I knew what it meant to be proud of someone.
That same feeling of pride continued for 6 years after that because we didn’t stop winning. The other schools quickly learned that by inviting us to participate, we were bringing our A-game. We weren’t there for friendly competition, we were there to win! Of course, we absolutely drilled into the team each year that if we didn’t win they had better go over and shake the hands of the winning team and congratulate them. We wanted to win, but we were not going to be sore losers if we didn’t.
When I transitioned to teaching middle school, I eventually stopped being the official coach of the team. There is a such thing as a middle school Battle of the Books, but the other schools didn’t want to branch out into that. Our kids were willing, but the other coaches were not. While I wasn’t always the official coach, I did pop in and help the team each year at various points. My original co-coach and I really got the preparations down to a science. What to start them off doing (memorizing authors and titles), how to make sure they were reading the books and really understanding them, and even down to the strategies when they’re up there consulting with their team on each question. We had a legit winning formula.
With the 2023-2024 year being my last year at the school, I went to cheer on the team knowing that it would be my last time engaging with them. I watched them compete from the perspective of their principal. When they won their 7th victory in a row, I felt the same intense pride that I did during the inaugural year of the team. I got choked up as I took their picture with the trophy that we still had yet to pass on to another school.
After I left in June with a horrible taste in my mouth on the whole experience of being a principal, my husband joked that I should now volunteer to coach the team at our rival school. After all, we go to the church that’s connected with that school.
Since leaving, I have been very cautious about interacting with connections to that place, to include their Facebook account. I didn’t unfollow them, but I also have been very careful not to click any of the reaction buttons on their posts. I still feel very strongly that I need to keep my distance. It was hard to do that today.
Today their Facebook post proclaimed that the 4th and 5th grade team had secured their 8th victory in a row. There was the picture of the team holding the trophy and smiling those “we are the champions!” smiles. I remember the kids singing that Queen song on the bus back to school one year after we had won yet again.
I thought of the team recently and a part of me, the petty part, almost hoped they would lose this year. In my mind, it seemed appropriate. I created that team. I coached the kids who created that winning streak. When I leave, the winning streak should leave with me.
But that’s not what I felt today seeing that picture. I looked at those kids that I still remember from the past few years. I saw them hold that trophy that is starting to show some wear after having been held onto by so many happy kids over the years. And despite everything I went through at that school, I still felt proud. Congratulations B.O.B. team. You did good. I’m proud of you.
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