Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

3/12/08

NEWS RELEASE
Evergreen Heights Elementary School to Compete at the
King County Global Reading Challenge Championship

On Friday, March 28, the Evergreen Heights Elementary School Global Reading Challenge team, the “Livewires,” will represent South King County at the 2008 King County Global Reading Challenge Championship, to be held at the King County Library System Service Center in Issaquah. The competition kicks off at 10 a.m. Linda Johns, a local author who penned 1 of the 10 Global Reading Challenge books, Hannah West and the Belltown Towers, will open the ceremonies.

The Evergreen Heights Livewires—Jocelyn Mc Wayne, Brooke Saxen, Emily Clark, Mason McInerny, Baron Baura and Angelina Pishchenko—competed against 10 other schools in Auburn School District’s Global Reading Challenge, capturing first place, which qualified them to move on to the South King County Regional Championship. The Livewires beat teams from Federal Way and Enumclaw to secure their position in the King County Championship.

Each team at the King County Championship will have advanced through school, school district and regional challenges. All teams, at all levels of competition, must demonstrate knowledge of 10 books chosen by King County Library System librarians. A typical format consists of three rounds of eight questions. Questions are open-ended, fill-in-the-blank, true or false, or multiple choice. Teams are given time to confer and must come up with one answer for each question.

According to Arnie Grab, Evergreen Heights Elementary School’s librarian and Global Reading Challenge supervisor, “These kids read on their own time and meet to study and discuss the readings. This year the group of kids has worked really well together. They listen to each other and take their time in responding to questions,” says Mr. Grab. “It’s great that Global Reading is an available opportunity to students that promotes reading.”

The Global Reading Challenge is modeled after the popular Battle of the Books and has been well received by students in nine school districts around King County. In 2001, the first Global Challenge in King County was initiated in Auburn with two schools and 42 students. This year the program highlights 43 schools and over 1,300 students and generates enormous enthusiasm among participants, as well as their parents, peers and teachers. This collaborative effort was born primarily to promote the love of reading and to have fun while doing it. It has also provided a recreational outlet for readers, promoted teamwork and introduced children to a wide variety of multicultural reading materials.

For more information contact Arnie Grab, librarian at Evergreen Heights Elementary School, at 253-931-4903.