April proved to be yet another exciting month for our DHH program. Three of our students continued their fight in the national reading competition for DHH students, called “Battle of the Books (BOTB).” Uyen D., Alenna S., and Cindy R. started this epic battle in the Fall when they were given three books to read and study. This dedicated trio met every day at lunch to discuss their readings and quiz each other on details of the stories. Their hard work paid off. They sailed through the preliminary and playoff levels of competition and were ranked among the top 8 teams in the country to advance to the National Championship in Washington D.C. They were given 4 new books to read, discuss and study. Again, every day at lunch was spent developing reading schedules, reviewing books, and developing study materials.
In April, through the use of Zoom technology and Powerpoint, the National Competition began. For 4 days, our students battled through 4 more rounds of competition against other DHH programs across the US and UK. In the semi-final match, Venado beat the UK team by 6 points and advanced to the final round. Our opponent, a Deaf school from Seattle, Washington, proved to be fierce. It was neck and neck through the entire three rounds of competition. In the end, the Seattle team beat us by just one point, giving Venado the title of 2nd Place in the nation. Aleena S. was named as an All-Star player and Cindy R. was named as the Most Valuable Player in the entire Blue BOTB division. We are extremely proud of this hard-working and dedicated group of students. Uyen, Aleena, and Cindy showed outstanding grit, team work, and sportsmanship through the entire competition. They made Venado shine. Go Knights!
~ Janet Dicker, DHH Teacher and BOTB Chaperone