Congratulations to 'The Bookaneers' who placed third!

It was the morning of the second-to-last day of term two, and within the school Library, something was different. Students were out of uniform – in fact, they looked more like characters that had stepped out of a book. The day of the regional Readers Cup competition was here. 

Ākonga from all over the Top of the South had been reading books throughout term two and were now to pit their knowledge against the other school teams to compete for the Cup, the glory and the chance to compete in the national competition. 

From Golden Bay through to Marlborough, 17 teams of Year 9 students, from eleven schools, travelled throughout the morning to get to Nayland College. The buzz was loud within the hall as the brightly costumed characters entered and found their tables. But firstly – there was a feast of food to be eaten. Food to fire up the brain and mobilise the memory. Then to business.

Six rounds of ten tough questions to test the team recall of details from the books. The scores went up and down, the leaderboard rotated like a spinning wheel. The judges sweated to ensure the marking was even-handed and fair before the results were announced – in reverse order. This is where no one wanted their team to be called! The realisation for the teams as their names were yet to be called, that it could be them; and we were down to the third, second, then first placegetters. There were prizes, photos and congratulations. Every team member returned home with at least one new book of their choice. 

The day was a blast of course and a huge amount of fun. Congratulations go to Waimea College who took home the Readers Cup; Golden Bay High School finished in second place and The Bookaneers from Nayland College came in third. Tino pai rawa atu!