Reading Raccoons finish fourth in reading competition

April 29, 2017 12:00 pm
Evan Thompson / The Record — South Whidbey Elementary School’s Reading Raccoons team finished fourth out of 150 teams at a recent reading challenge event. The team includes Rylee Vest, George Spear, Lilja Ringsrud, Jett Pozarycki, Walden McKell and Sienna Nissen.
Evan Thompson / The Record — South Whidbey Elementary School’s Reading Raccoons team finished fourth out of 150 teams at a recent reading challenge event. The team includes Rylee Vest, George Spear, Lilja Ringsrud, Jett Pozarycki, Walden McKell and Sienna Nissen.

Six students from South Whidbey Elementary School were honored for their literary achievements at Wednesday night’s South Whidbey School Board meeting.

Third grade students Rylee Vest, George Spear, Lilja Ringsrud, Jett Pozarycki, Walden McKell and Sienna Nissen recently finished fourth in a Reading Raccoons competition that featured over 150 teams. Reading Raccoons is a literacy trivia program with Sno-Isle Libraries. South Whidbey Elementary School has participated in the program for the past five years.

The students first won an in-school event, followed by another first-place finish in an all-island challenge against Oak Harbor and Coupeville. They were required to read six books to prepare for the final reading challenge, a knowledge bowl quiz.

Val Brown, an elementary school teacher who described the Reading Raccoon program at Wednesday night’s meeting, said the competition required “great comprehension.”

“They knew those books backwards and forwards,” Brown said. “That’s why they did so well.”