The team from Moss Hill Elementary School earned its third consecutive win in the annual LCPS Battle of the Books competition last week. Team members are, from left, front row, Daniel Smith, Violet Davis, Carsyn Tyndall, Izzy Small and Hardy Lynch; second row, Devin Brown, Yefferson Lopez-Gomez, Kate Hughes and Elyza Price; third row, coaches Missy Small and Joey Gray.

Moss Hill Elementary School three-peated in the annual LCPS Elementary Battle of the Books, earning its third consecutive win and its fourth in five contests in the 2024 competition held Friday at Lenoir Community College.

Missy Small, the school’s media coordinator and the head coach who has guided the teams to that string of wins, attributes the Tigers’ success to “hard work, dedication, practice and lots of reading.”

The Battle of the Books challenges students’ knowledge of books from a common reading list of 15 titles through questions related to content. Teams from all nine LCPS elementary schools competed in the round-robin format.

Banks Elementary finished second and Pink Hill Elementary finished third.

Small and Joey Gray, a third-grade teacher who assists, coached a blend of veteran and rookie readers this year. Returning from last year’s team were Hardy Lynch, Kate Hughes, Elyza Price and Daniel Smith. New to this year’s team were Devin Brown, Yefferson Lopez-Gomez, Violet Davis, Izzy Small and Carsyn Tyndall.

As district winners, Moss Hill will represent LCPS in regional competition in April.

“We are very proud of our team and all of their hard work this year!” Gray said.