2025 Battle of the Books winners announced

Friday, May 9, 2025

2025 Battle of the Books winners announced

A record 1,694 students across Central New York put their reading skills to the test in the 2025 Battle of the Books, a literary quiz competition organized by the O²CM School Library System (SLS).

“This is one of my favorite programs,” said SLS Librarian Heather Turner, who coordinated the event alongside the O²CM SLS team and OCM ISS staff. “It’s an incredible opportunity to engage directly with students and celebrate the power of reading.”
What began as a local initiative has grown into a multi-BOCES collaboration that now includes student teams from:

• Broome-Tioga BOCES
• Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES
• Jefferson-Lewis BOCES
• Monroe 2–Orleans BOCES
• Oswego Home School Association
• Syracuse City School District

“We hope to continue expanding the program to give every student the opportunity to participate,” Turner said. 

Throughout the year, students read eight books and prepared to answer questions that all begin with, “In which book…?” While over 1,600 students participated in the program, only the top teams from each district advanced to the highly anticipated Regional and SuperRegional competitions, which together included 278 students.

Special guest readers for this year’s events included:

• Nancarrow Brown, OCPL Children’s Librarian
• Allison Comes, O²CM SLS Coordinator
• Sarah Fleming, Professor at SUNY Oswego
• Amy Keesey, OCM Model Schools Coordinator
• Christopher Leece, OCM STEM Coordinator
• Yanira Stoker, OCM DEI Coordinator

Each participating student received a customized pennant and certificate, while winning teams earned a traveling trophy and plaque to display at their schools. All matches were livestreamed via Panopto so families and classmates could watch and cheer their teams on.

 

2025 Regional Winners:

• Grades 1–2: East Syracuse Elementary School
• Grades 3–4: KC Heffernan Elementary
• Grades 5–6: Ed Smith Pre-K–8 School
• Grades 7–8: Wellwood Middle School
• Grades 9–12: East Syracuse Minoa High School

2025 SuperRegional Winners:

• Grades 1–2: East Syracuse Elementary School
• Grades 3–4: KC Heffernan Elementary
• Grades 5–6: Eagle Hill Middle School
• Grades 7–8: Chittenango Middle School
• Grades 9–12: East Syracuse Minoa High School

“The sportsmanship and energy from the students was inspiring,” said Turner. “We’re already looking ahead to next year with even more teams and new districts joining in.” Interested in joining Battle of the Books next year? Contact Heather Turner at hturner@ocmboces.org to learn how your district can get involved!