Lake Bluff Sixth-Grade Bookworms Finish with Second Place

Lake Bluff Elementary sixth graders took home second place in their category at the Battle of the Books Invitational Thursday.

Shorewood hosted the annual event at the elementary school with fourth through sixth graders from 14 area schools competing in the academic challenge. Students competed in two rounds of battles, answering questions on about 45 books they read prior to the tournament. The competition was so fierce, two tie-breakers were held, followed by another set of tie-breakers.

All the teams did an excellent job and competition was “extremely tight,” said organizer Jennifer Cosgrove.

The event was organized by Shorewood district teachers Cosgrove, Kitty Ptacek and Mary Gorman. It filled the gym with over 33 teams from 14 other schools and over 300 people in attendance.

Known to their challengers as the “Turn-a-Page Travelers,”  lifelong friends and Lake Bluff students Maeve McKaig, Rebecca Embar and Sabine Peterka tied for second place at the tournament and had some excited parents look on as they were presented their trophy.

The win comes at the end of three years of competition for the three and is “bittersweet” for them, Maeve’s mother Ann McKaig said.

"It’s their last year at Lake Bluff,” she said. “I am thrilled, they’ve had a great two or three years, reading books over summer vacation, and working really hard. They tried really hard, and they did it! I’m so thrilled.”

The group had its doubters, though Maeve was the optimist about placing at regionals. Rebecca’s father, Mohan Embar, said the key to their success is that “these girls are totally self-motivated.

"We didn’t have to do anything. They have been playing together since the first grade, unstructured, after-school, playtime," he said

“It isn’t that our parenting is so good, I think it’s that they had unstructured playtime together very regularly. We didn’t push them at all they just go into it. So anyone who is worried that you’re not pushing your children hard enough, relax. They just run with what they like, and of course we support them and help them succeed,” he added.

Maeve’s mother added, “They also all do drama and theater together, which has really had a positive effect on them.” 

The fifth grade “Bookinators” including Ellen Teerink, Frannie Nesler, Abby Goldberg from Lake Bluff won third place in their category.

Other  Shorewood teams that participated in the event were:

Atwater Elementary School Regional Teams:

• Fourth grade: J.A.M. (Jason Hegelmeyer, William Hegelmeyer, Morgan Gamblin)
• Fifth grade: The Big Fat Books (Jack Loomis, Gavin Paap, Lilli Musto)
• Sixth grade: The Loopy Chipmunks from Lake Michigan (Lucas Barry, Benji Bussen, Dayton Simenz)

Lake Bluff Elementary School Regional Teams:

• Fourth grade: Best Brilliant Book Benefits (Grace Dresang, Isis Meng, Tessa Peterka)