Means Elementary, STEM2 Preparatory Academy, and Harlingen School of Health Professions earned first place at the district Battle of the Books competition.
HCISD began competing in Battle of the Books in 2018. The very first district event was held at Cano Freshman Academy.
In 2020, the event went virtual. Now, the competition is conducted using Zoom and Quizziz.
The Battle of the Books competition consists of teams working together to answer 72 questions from four books they read.
The elementary books read this year were “The Lion of Mars” by Jennifer L. Holm, “Billy Miller Makes a Wish” by Kevin Henkes, “Willodeen” by Katherine Applegate, and “Long Lost” by Jacqueline West.
The middle school books read this year were “Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna” by Alda Dobbs, “Glitch” by Laura Martin, “Turtle Boy” by M. Evan Wolkenstein, and “The In-Between” by Rebecca K. S. Ansari.
The high school books read this year were “The Cousins” by Karen M. McManus, “Dragon Hoops” by Gene Luen Yang, “The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and “Indivisible” by Daniel Aleman.
All first-place teams advance to a Region One competition with surrounding districts.
The top three spots for elementary, middle school, and high school are listed below.
Elementary
1st Place – Lee Means Elementary Fine Arts Academy
2nd Place – Bonham Elementary
3rd Place – Dr. Rodriguez Elementary STEM Academy
Middle School
1st Place – STEM2 Preparatory Academy
2nd Place – Vela Middle School
3rd Place – Vernon Middle School World Languages Academy
High School
1st Place – Harlingen School of Health Professions
2nd Place – Harlingen Collegiate High
3rd Place – Harlingen High School South
