Cayman Islands Battle of the Books Champions Crowned

From Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands (EYSAL)

• First Baptist Christian School and Cayman International School took victory in annual CIIP Lera Parchment Battle of the Books.

GRAND CAYMAN (GIS) – “The Books and the Sword” from First Baptist Christian School (Division 1) and “The Book Minions” from Cayman International School (Division 2) have been crowned winners of the fifth annual Cayman Islands Information Professionals (CIIP) Lera Parchment Battle of the Books event.

            The contest, hosted at Sir John A. Cumber Primary School, saw almost 140 youngsters battling it out for the honour of walking away with the coveted titles.        

            “To Be Determined” from Cayman Prep (Division One) and “The Brac Battlers” from Layman E. Scott High School (Division Two) were runners-up.

            Acting Director of the Cayman Islands Public Library Service and Chairman of the CIIP, Paul Robinson said this year’s challenge had been a “success beyond our expectation.”

            He added: “It is a wonderful credit to our young readers that they dedicate their spare time to reading ten books in advance of the competition and perform so brilliantly on the day. We would like to thank all the students, their teachers and the volunteers that make the event happen, to keep the love of reading very much alive.”

The competition splits schoolchildren into two divisions: seven to ten years and eleven to fourteen years.

            Aimed at improving literacy across the Cayman Islands, the Battle of the Books challenge requires students in each division to study ten books from the start of the school year. Teams of six then compete on how much information they have retained from their reading. The team with the highest score wins.

The event is named after Lera Parchment, who was an avid reader and a long-term supporter of libraries.

            2018 saw St. Ignatius Catholic School win both divisions.