Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Quick with the correct answers in a contest on books, the elementary school's team whips six others from Hillsborough at Tropicana Field.
By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 8, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Wielding their answer buzzer like a magic wand, the fourth-grade team from Westchase Elementary lit up Tropicana Field with some fiction-inspired fireworks at Hillsborough's annual Battle of the Books on Tuesday.
Samir Makhani consistently rang in first during the toss-up portion of the game, which tests students' familiarity with two dozen novels.
With that, the Westchase Wizards won the war of the written word.
"We knew that buzzing in early is the key," said Wizards coach Beth Zwolak, teacher for the victorious team. "All the teams up there could answer the questions, so it was just a matter of buzzing in the fastest."
The Battle of the Books, now in its eighth year, started last month with 94 elementary schools from across Hillsborough County. Students in three-member teams answer questions about books they have been reading and rereading since fall.
At a regional competition last month at the University of South Florida, the field was narrowed to seven finalists: Alafia, Canella, Claywell, Lithia Springs, Tampa Palms, Walden Lake and Westchase.
This was the first year the competition had corporate sponsorship and prize money. Backed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Verizon Foundation, Battle organizers awarded $3,000 to Westchase Elementary to be used for reading materials. Second-place Claywell took home $2,000, and third-place team Tampa Palms earned $1,000.
Students, teachers and parents filled an entire section of stadium seats behind the part of the field usually used as the home team bullpen. Grounds crews sculpted the infield as the kids fielded questions. At the end, everyone got a chance to see themselves on the stadium's huge Diamond Vision TV screen high above the outfield.