Harlem UD 122 honors Battle of the Books champions and state bowling teams

The Harlem UD 122 board opened its meeting with recognition of student and extracurricular achievements, honoring four district "Battle of the Books" champions and both boys' and girls' middle-school bowling teams that recenty brought home state-level honors.

Miss Schmidt, the students' teacher, praised the Battle of the Books team for its method and cohesion, saying the four winners "trusted each other completely" after reading and rehearsing books together. The board introduced the students and their principal and invited them to explain the competition format and what prepared them to win the district round.

The board also heard an extended presentation about the district bowling program. A coach and program representative outlined the program's structure — a Harlem feeder youth program through middle school — and listed individual and team accomplishments, including sectional and state qualifiers and current-season scoring averages. The presenter noted the boys' team won state by a cumulative margin of pins this year and several key players will return next season.

Separately, the board recognized participants in the Educators Rising program. A teacher described students' competitive placements: one student earned second place in a children's literature event and another won first place in a junior-varsity Spanish speech competition.

Board members and staff framed the recognitions as part of the district's broader student-engagement and teacher-development efforts, thanking coaches, teachers and families for the time invested in extracurriculars and career-focused programming.

The board moved on after the recognitions to the evening's business agenda.