Book Lovers Compete at St. Margaret’s BOB Tournament

St. Margaret’s welcomed more than 150 grade 4 and grade 5 students from across South Orange County to campus on Wednesday as host of a Battle of the Books tournament in the Performing Arts Center.

Schools competing included St. Margaret’s, Tarbut v’ Torah, Olivewood, Mission Basilica, St. Anne, St. Edwards, Mission Viejo Christian and Serra Catholic. There were also three “BOB United” teams made up of individuals from different schools.

The BOB tournament consisted of three rounds, totaling 30 team-versus-team battles in both Hurlbut and McGregor Family theaters. The questions were details from books on a 20-book reading list. The answers had to consist of both the correct title of the book and the correct author. After the three rounds, the top four performing teams competed in the semifinals, before two teams from St. Edwards advanced to the final to secure a 1-2 finish for the school.

“The BOB tournaments promote reading and retention in a fun, competitive way,” said St. Margaret’s Director of Library Services Darla Magana, who organized the event. “You can see how excited students get when they get a question right and pump their fist or high-five their teammates. We love hosting this BOB Tournament and celebrating reading in an exciting way.”

The St. Margaret’s competitors were Reagan Ricker, Sarah Bendzick, Audrey Kim, Rachel Cunningham, Annika Tufo, Claire Martin, Abigail Hancock, Cailyn Fisher, Saba Farjami, Karyssa Valdez, Tessa Maryott, McKenna Mitchell and Angelina Wang. They were coached by Mrs. Magana and Lower School teachers Rebecca Tufo and Colleen Beshk.

Students in grades 4 and 5 have been reading and preparing for the tournament since last summer. St. Margaret’s two teams were selected based on an in-school competition during Literacy Day earlier this month.