Reading Olympics come to Florence

Hank Murphy

      The pizza oven at Dina Mia’s may have been the busiest place in town Monday afternoon as Dennis and Pam Krueger baked enough pizzas to satisfy hundreds of youngsters who descended on Florence Elementary School for the opening ceremonies of the Reading Olympics.

      Holding colorful signs bearing team names such as the Book Bouncers and the Ready Readers, school kids from Florence, Norway-Vulcan, Iron Mountain, Kingsford, North Dickinson, North Central, Holy Spirit and Bishop Baraga Catholic School strode across the gymnasium floor before bleachers packed with an appreciative crowd. After teams from each school participated in the grand march, the children sat at tables outside the gym for the opening ceremony’s traditional mainstay, a giant pizza party.

      The Opening Ceremonies for the Reading Olympics is a tradition that dates back to 1995. The actual competition begins this year on March 15 at each participating school. The winners of the local contest advance to the regional competition on March 24, which also will be hosted by Florence Elementary.

Teams are comprised of third- and fourth-graders, fifth- and sixth-graders, and seventh- and eighth-graders. In the competition, students are told something about a book. They must come up with the correct title and author, and answers must be precise. Competition can become quite heated, especially at the regional level. Winning students receive trophies and medals. Last year, a team of Florence fifth- and sixth-graders captured a first place.

The Reading Olympics began in Iron Mountain in 1995 with a boost from David and Elsa Brule of Iron Mountain. It became a regional competition in 2001 and has grown to an area-wide tournament comprising eight school districts. Florence, the only Wisconsin school, came aboard in 2008.

Boss Snowplow has been the major benefactor of the competition. Donations to the games also were made this year by Econo Foods, Super One, Binks Coca Cola and Dina Mia’s of Florence.

      Elementary teachers Shanna Cade and Amy Joerns are coordinating this year’s Florence contingent, which consists of 28 students.

      They say the competition fosters a spirit of teamwork.

      “These are kids who are randomly drawn (for teams), so they normally wouldn’t be friends. It gets them to meet other kids and gives them something in common to focus on,” Cade said.

      Teams delegate and organize, working from lists of books that must be read. The Reading Olympics experience pushes kids who ordinarily would not read in their spare time to crack open a book, Cade said.

      Said Joerns: “It gets kids excited about reading and exposes them to different genres, books they normally wouldn’t read. It makes them work together … it’s really a team effort.”