Avid reading pays off for Eden College learners

FOUR learners from Eden College competed in the Kids’ Lit Quiz Regional Competition that took place at Westville Senior Primary School on Monday, February 12, and placed first out of 20 other schools. This exciting achievement means that the team will be going on to compete at the Kids’ Lit National Competition this Saturday in Cape Town.

According to the Eden College librarian Katherine Guttenbrunner, who has been a tremendous help to the learners, the Kids’ Lit Quiz completion is an annual contest. “Each year, there is a regional competition, and the team that wins goes to the national competition, which this year will be in Cape Town. At the national contest, they will compete against other regional teams from around the country, and if they come out on top in that competition, then they will move on to the international competition, which will take place in Australia this year.”

According to the Kids’ Lit Quiz website, the Kids’ Lit Quiz is an annual literature quiz for students aged 10 to 13 years, and quizzes are held in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the USA.

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The quiz was founded by New Zealand quizmaster Wayne Mills, who reads enough books to write several thousand questions each year. The Eden College team has been competing together in the annual competition for two years.

Grade Seven learner Emma van de Weg said the team was ecstatic when they placed first in the competition. “We were hoping to win, but we were not expecting it. I thought we would come third because we got fourth place last year, but I was so excited when we won, and we actually won by two points.”

All four learners say they are avid readers. “There was a time [when] I read a 500-page book in a few hours. I love escaping into the world of books anytime I can,” said Shudhayan Moodley.

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Grade Seven learner Saranya Naidoo says the team prepares all year for the annual contest. “To prepare for the competition, we get a practice paper, but we don’t know which books the questions will be about, so we are all constantly reading throughout the year, and it really helps us in the competition.”

Connor Linderboom says their team has received overwhelming support following their big win and ahead of the upcoming competition. “Our friends, teachers and people in our classes have been very supportive of us, and we are all so happy when we have won. We’re trying our best to prepare as much as possible because we don’t have a lot of time between Monday’s competition and the upcoming competition this weekend.”

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