WHS students first in state
By Angie Landsverk
Waupaca High School’s Battle of the Books team was first in the state this year.
The team made up of sophomore Abby Perket and seniors Kylie Hiddemen, Bailey Seefeldt and Nathan Wachsmuth scored 360 out of 375 points in the senior division.
Their score was 30 points ahead of their nearest competitor.
“I was super excited,” Seefeldt said.
Wachsmuth said he was “geeking out” after learning they won their division.
Perket said, “My mom didn’t know I was in this. I’m in so much stuff.”
Battle of the Books is a statewide reading challenge for elementary, middle school and high school students.
Its goal is to promote a love of reading and encourage students to read a variety of books.
Heidi Nowicki and Amy Mead coach WHS’s team.
Teams read 20 books each season and are tested on content knowledge, as well as correctly identifying titles and authors, Nowicki said.
The team received the list of books last summer.
Nowicki said the book titles are recommended by librarians in the state.
The genres in the senior division included fantasy, nonfiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction, autobiography, science fiction and graphic novel.
“In the beginning, we get the list and choose what we want to read,” Seefeldt said. “As it gets closer to the competition, we look at who’s reading what and fill in the gaps.”
Wachsmuth got started immediately, reading a couple of the books last summer.
Seefeldt started choosing which ones she wanted to read in late October and said she “pounded out three books in a week” just before the competition.
The week of the competition, the test opened up on a Monday morning, with the team having until Friday to take it.
“It’s an online test that you take. All four of us were together in a room. Someone sits at a computer and reads the question out loud,” she said.
Teams answer the questions by naming both the title of the book and its author.
“Some of the questions are simple. Some of them might be an underlying theme,” Wachsmuth said. “Any four of us can answer the question.”
Sometimes there are clues, helping them narrow it down, Seefeldt said.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” she said.
Wachsmuth said the books are different enough that most of them do not overlap.
The members of the team share a love of reading.
That is what drew them to Battle of the Books.
In middle school, they participated in it as part of their language arts class.
In 2014, Seefeldt and Wachsmuth were members of the Waupaca Middle School team that placed second in the state.
Seefeldt said finding a time to meet in high school was challenging, because Battle of the Books is not associated with any particular class.
“We ended up doing a lot of lunch times,” Wachsmuth said.
Both Seefeldt and Wachsmuth liked the competitive aspect of the program.
“I read a lot. This is a way for me to step outside of my comfort zone for genres and authors,” Seefeldt said.
Wachsmuth’s participation in Battle of the Books showed him there are good books in every genre.
“You just have to find them,” he said. “There’s also a chance you’re going to find one of your favorite books on the list.”
Each of them had a different one that was a favorite.
Hiddemen said this season’s book list included a lot of current, relevant topics.
Seefeldt said it was a fun list, and Wachsmuth said it was one of his favorites.
Perket said being on a Battle of the Books team “makes you more knowledgeable about the world.”
She plans on doing it again next school year.
“It definitely is motivation to keep reading during high school, during your free time,” Seefeldt said.