Story by Natalie Saesee & Kaitlyn Yang
This year, The NCHS/DHS Battle of the Books team had an amazing season. They placed 1st in both the district and regional competitions and went on to finish 9th in the state at the competition in Statesville on April 28.
The county competition was held at the Central Office in Newton, and the regional Competition took place at Challenger Campus. According to Mrs. Ward, “They managed their time well and had great guesses when they didn’t know the answer. That helped them get a lot of rebounds, so it wasn’t just their questions, but they also got points for the other team’s mistakes.”
The team includes students from NCHS and DHS students. Hailey Collins, Zoe Kaylor, Jamilla Moore, Bryson Smith, and Stephen Washington are all students from Discovery who joined the team. Their assistant coach, Mrs. Ward, supported them throughout the season. Since the team is combined with Newton-Conover High School, most of the practices were held at Newton-Conover.
To prepare, the team met together twice a week to read books, memorize authors, and practice questions. “We’d do mock battles where Mrs. Smith would ask questions, and we had to answer with the right title and author,” said Kaylor.
Collins shared that the competitions can be intense. “You have 20 seconds to talk with your team and answer. If you get it wrong, the other team can steal the points. It’s pretty stressful,” said Collins.
Despite the pressure, the team did better than they expected. “We didn’t think we’d do great,” said Kaylor, “but we got first place with 88 points. That gave us confidence going into regionals.”
At regionals, the team beat schools like Watauga and NCSSM, earning their place at the state level. “It felt amazing to prove ourselves,” Kaylor said.
The team also had fun along the way. Washington said, “No one took it too seriously. We just had fun with it, and that helped me feel less nervous.”
Smith agreed, saying, “It was fun hanging out with friends at the competitions. We even got to eat out afterward.”
For many, the best was the bond they built. “We didn’t all start out as friends,” said Moore, “ but we made great memories together. It was all worth it.”
