By Melissa Robinson
Contributing Editor 

  Cotton Indian Elementary, Union Grove Middle School and Ola High School were all big winners at Henry County’s 2012 Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. This year’s elementary and middle school competition was held at Luella Middle school in Locust Grove and the high school competition was held at Woodland High School in Stockbridge. Second place winners were Oakland Elementary in McDonough, Ola Middle School and Woodland High School.

Elementary school students competing in last Saturday’s reading bowl. Photo by Melissa Robinson

  The competitions were held this past Saturday and the first and second place winners for each elementary, middle and high school will go on to compete in the regional bowl on February 4, at Clayton State University.

  The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is a quiz bowl type of competition for students across the state of Georgia in grades 4 through 12. Participating students read approximately 18 award winning books and compete in six rounds of competition where they are asked questions about the books. This year, the Henry County competition saw 26 elementary schools participating as well as ten middle schools and four high schools.

  According to organizer Renee Wolfinger, media specialist at Timber Ridge Elementary in McDonough, in Henry County there were up to ten students from each school participating. She said the competition has grown considerably since those the early years.

  “Originally, I think we had about four or five teams competing in the Reading Bowl, but now, it’s so big. It’s incredible how it has grown,” she said.

 Wolfinger, along with Jennifer McCrary, media specialist at Cotton Indian Elementary and Mary Kay Harris from Luella Middle School, helped to organize the event, and Wolfinger said it takes many volunteers and staff to pull off such an endeavor.

  “It takes a lot of people to make this happen. We have volunteers from the schools, such as teachers, office staff and administrators, who work so hard to make this a success,” she said.

  Students were broken up into groups and competition took place in classrooms throughout the schools. Students answering questions had to buzz in first on their buzzers and answer questions correctly and move on to the next round. There were six rounds of fierce completion. Students begin preparing in September and by December, teams are chosen.

  “The students work so hard to prepare for the competition, often reading the books more than once,” said Wolfinger. “And every year the competition gets tougher.”

  Helen Ruffin was a media specialist at Sky Haven Elementary School in DeKalb County. In 1985 she was on the selection committee for the Georgia Children’s Book award nominees program and created a reading competition in a game format.

  The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl promotes literacy, builds self-esteem, develops cooperative learning skills, and improves academic achievement.