Grangroth, Pearsall win Grades 3-4 Battle of the Books

When the dust settled on the third- and fourth-grade Battle of the Books competition at Northwinds Elementary on March 12, teammates Liam Grangroth and Cole Pearsall were the last contestants standing.

The pair of fourth-graders took first-place honors out of 22 teams and 47 total contestants who read 10 books in recent months, then answered trivia questions about each that tested their comprehension and retention of the material. The field was whittled down through three successive rounds of competition, until only three teams remained in a tense final round.

“When we were waiting to see who would move on it was kind of nerve-wracking,” said Pearsall. “I really wanted to move on because last year I didn’t make it out of the first round.”

Second place went to third-graders Quinn Erickson and Lindsay Erickson, and fourth-graders Nathan Cassada and Everett Eller claimed third place.

Those individuals survived several elimination rounds, including numerous tie-breaking questions, in order to make it to the final table. What was the ultimate key to success?

Grangroth and Pearsall focused their independent reading time each school day on the books in the contest, and emphasized the memorization of key details. Both said their favorite book was “Wayward Creatures” by Dayna Lorentz.

“One thing that helped was not going too fast when we read,” said Pearsall. “You want to read it at a good pace, not too fast, so you understand it.”

Entering competition, both said they had some butterflies.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know if there were going to be really good teams. So I had to lock in,” said Grangroth.

With a supportive crowd of fellow students and parents on hand, the boys soaked up the satisfaction of victory.

“When they were cheering for us, when we won, I was practically crying,” said Grangroth. 

Pearsall encouraged other students to sign up for the competition in future years for the quality books and the overall experience.

“It seems like something that would make you nervous to a lot of kids, but it’s probably good to go through that when you’re younger so you get used to it, the nervous things in life,” Pearsall said. “It’s just really fun. The books were really good and it was fun being on stage in front of half the school answering those questions.”