CHARLOTTE — Seeking to reveal truth, goodness and beauty to young people across the diocese, the Catholic Schools Office has developed a book competition unique to the Diocese of Charlotte. Soon, students will participate in the first-ever St. Jerome Book Battle.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, April 21, students from St. Ann, Our Lady of Grace, Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Patrick, Holy Trinity Middle and St. Michael Catholic schools will compete at the MACS Fine Arts Center at Charlotte Catholic High School.
The battle has two competitions, one for fourth- and fifth-graders and another for middle school students, who have been reading literature from two sets of 15 books. The students will answer questions based on each of the books on the list in quiz bowl style.
Normalinda Hammond, an employee of the Catholic Schools Office and a Catholic school parent of five, was encouraged by Kelsey Blackburn, the librarian at Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro, to get the ball rolling. Concerned about the quality and content of books in other reading competitions, Blackburn expressed to Hammond in the summer of 2022 that it would be great if the diocese had its own competition.
“The idea was to ensure that the books would be well-forming for our students not only in virtue but also in mind, body and soul while not in any way contradicting the teachings of our faith, which is clearly our schools’ priority: to enrich our children’s faith but also educate them to be well-rounded in all areas,” Hammond said.
Working together with Dr. Daniel Garland, the director of religious education for schools in the Diocese of Charlotte, they invited schools to join the competition, met with school librarians, and created the reading lists.
“Why should we give our students things that are subpar? Why not introduce them to the best and do it in a way that fosters a love for reading?” he said. “More schools plan to join next year, and we’ve invited other dioceses to participate as well.”
Hammond credits the speedy establishment of the program to the intercession of its patron saint. St. Jerome, a Doctor of the Church, was a brilliant scholar and is known for translating the Bible into the Latin Vulgate. He is the patron saint of librarians, scholars and translators.
Hammond also illustrated what reading quality literature, whether classic or modern, offers students.
“‘The Hobbit’ is obviously a timeless story, and people are interested in it because they’re still remaking it over and over again,” she said. “It’ll be good for students to get their own perspective of what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote and see for themselves, letting their imagination recreate the visuals instead of it being recreated for them.”
Dr. Garland added, “Reading develops the imagination, it develops the mind, and we want students in our age now, who are on their phones or glued to whatever media screen, to go back to holding a book in their hands. These sensory and tactile elements are important. We want them to know what it’s like to sit down with a good book and get lost in it and then discover the creativity that springs from that. You never know what a good book can do.”
No matter the results of the competition, Hammond says reading these books, many of which are challenging, makes all the students winners.
— Annie Ferguson
4th/5th Grade Book List
"Blue Willow" by Doris Gates
"The Cricket in Times Square" by George Seldon
"Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome
"The Green Ember" by S.D. Smith
"Homer’s The Odyssey: A Poetic Primer" by B.B. Gallagher
"Kateri Tekakwitha: Mohawk Maiden" by Evelyn M. Brown
"The Kitchen Madonna" by Rumer Godden
"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
"Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
"Mountain Born" by Elizabeth Yates
"Owls in the Family" by Farley Mowat
"Pictures of Hollis Woods" by Patricia Reilly Giff
"Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren
"Saint John the Baptist: A Voice Crying Out in the
Desert" by Ezekiel Saucedo
"Twenty and Ten" by Claire Huchet Bishop
Middle School Book List
"Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery
"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Princess and the Goblin" by George MacDonald
"White Fang" by Jack London
"The Lilies of the Field" by William Edmund Barrett
"Esperanza Rising" by Pam Muñoz Ryan
"The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis
"The Secret Keepers" by Trenton Lee Stewart
"The Trumpeter of Krakow" by Eric P. Kelly
"The Family Under the Bridge" by Natalie Savage Carlson
"Crusader King" by Susan Peek
"Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
"The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare
"To the Heights: A Novel Based on the Life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati" by Brian Kennelly
CHARLOTTE — The union of the letters "Q" and "U" is a kindergarten lesson that uses the marital union as and example to show the relationship between "Q" and "U."
On March 15 at Our Lady of the Assumption School, the class held the ceremony with Mr. Tyler Kulp, school principal, officiating the ceremony.
Mrs. Curdes said she hopes that lessons like this can leave a lasting impression on her students.
— Troy Hull
