West Homer, Voznesenka score big Battle of the Books </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 10:09 PM on Wednesday, February 11, 2009

West Homer, Voznesenka score big Battle of the Books

By McKibben Jackinsky
Staff Writer

Read it, remember it. That was the winning strategy of West Homer Elementary School's sixth-grade Battle of the Books team. The team -- Jenna Dragoo, Larsen Fellows and Tisha Lovett -- took first place in district competition at their grade level Tuesday.
"It's a great team," said coach Shirley Gribble.

Photo provided

Voznesenka rises up The Voznesenka High School Battle of the Books team -- Iosif Martishev, left; Marina Polushkin and Pauvil Reutov, with Coach Katherine Serge-Hoeschen -- swept to second place in Kenai Peninsula Borough School District competition last week, close on the heels of first-place Nikiski. Katherine Serge-Hoeschen JH/HS Language Arts teacher Voznesenka School

Since October, the students have immersed themselves in the 14 titles on which they were tested. Since November, they've met three times a week to sharpen their recall. Tuesday, by teleconference, their first-round of challengers were Nikiski North Star, Mountain View Elementary and Tustumena Elementary. Passing those hurdles, they proceeded to the championship round, successfully tackling Razdolna and, in a second face-off, Nikiski North Star, for the district title.
"We'll be participating at the state level February 25," Gribble said.
The final moments of the battle were tense, with the West Homer team's classmates cheering them on in the school's library.
"There were three points of separation. It was close," Gribble said.
Although it was Dragoo, Fellows and Lovett in the hot seat, the team extended to others who helped them prepare for the battle.
"It's a whole-team effort, all the cheerleading, all the support. These three draw their energy and spirit from the rest of their teammates," Gribble said.
Between now and the state battle the end of this month, the West Homer champs will return to their three-day-a-week practice schedule, divvying up the books on which they'll be tested and adding to their recall.
"We do (practice) battle by me asking questions and keeping points so we know which books they're weak on and need to work on," Gribble said. "It'll probably be a little intense."
Also putting up a good fight at the district level was Voznesenka's high school team of Iosif Martishev, Marina Polushkin and Pauvil Reutov, coached by Katherine Serge-Hoeschen. They swept to second place, close on the heels of first-place Nikiski.