Contributed
The Wizard Readers from Samantha Smith Elementary School won the district level King County Library System Global Reading Challenge. The students are (from left to right), fifth-graders Reese Browers, Avery Zhuang, Audrey Gruian, Ishan Bansal, Sid Chari and Ron Pechuk.
The Global Reading Challenge is a Battle of the Books program for fourth- and fifth-grade students. The program encourages children to have fun and enjoy reading.
After reading 10 books, children take part in a “Quiz Bowl” game to determine the winners. They compete at the district level and then winning teams move on to regional challenges.
The Wizard Readers took first place in the Lake Washington School District, and then moved on to the regional challenge held in Kenmore in March. They placed second overall in the region.