Juniper Nevin, Daisy Filby, Alma Stewart and Prakruti Korrapati, embarked on a quest to The Readers Cup Nationals in Auckland.
As the winners of the Top of the South Regional competition, the Nayland team, consisting of Juniper Nevin, Daisy Filby, Alma Stewart and Prakruti Korrapati and accompanied by school Librarian Tracey, were on a quest. They really wanted to bring the National Readers Cup trophy to the cabinet as well. They had a term to each read the six set books they would be quizzed upon, then had the excitement of journeying to Auckland and onto Dilworth School, who were hosting the competition.
Upon arrival, the team were greeted and assigned a friendly Dilworth student who stayed with the team as their school guide. Lunch was provided 鈥� which was an experience in itself; eating in a large dining hall with cooks serving hot cooked meals and many types of salads to choose from. That left just a little bit of time to quickly review the books before the competition started. It came down to the 11 teams in the hall, each representing their region and each very motivated to win.
Six rounds, one per book, with 10 points to be gained per round; the stakes were high for the team and the pressure was on. After the first two rounds, Nayland was in 3rd place, excitement levels rose. The questions came thick and fast and were complicated. There was a lot of frantic writing and team talk going on. By the final round however it was not to be and the winning school, Cashmere High School from Christchurch, swept away with the trophy for the third year in a row leaving our Nayland team 7th overall…And buzzing.
Next minute, it was all a bit of a rush as they needed to quickly leave for the airport to return home to Nelson. It was a long day but a very rewarding one; especially so because it combined a love of both reading and a competitive element and that rare chance to represent your school doing something you love. And there was still time to buy the t-shirt (Daisy and Juniper!!)
By Tracey Winslade