The Dreyfoos team Beaux Arts defended their championship title on Feb. 5 in The Grand Battle of the Books, a televised competition. The battle against the Jupiter High team, The Novelas, was not easy. However, Beaux Arts was able to bring the trophy back to the Media Center, marking themselves as the only team to have ever won the competition twice.

“This is the first time that the same exact team has gone to the final competition twice,” communications junior Megan Horan said. “Not only that, but we won twice. It’s so significant because we’ve made Palm Beach County history.”

Battle of the Books is a district wide competition split into groups of elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, and high schoolers, with over 700 teams in total. It focuses on book trivia and memorization skills. Each team consisted of five students, with the task to read 15 books. Beaux Arts includes captain communications junior Samantha Marshall, and communications juniors Uma Raja, Brianna Steidle, strings junior Emily Winters, and Horan. Media specialist “Cookie” Davis is the sponsor, and communications junior Kayla Kirshenbaum is the coach.

“Battle of the Books is a great opportunity because it gives you the chance to compete with friends in an area you all enjoy,” Marshall said. “It helps you build trust and become closer because you have to rely on everyone to do their part.”

To qualify for the Grand Battle, students must first compete in an online competition to answer as many multiple choice questions as possible within the allotted 20 minutes. The two teams with the top scores advance to the Grand Battle. Beaux Arts had a score of 116. Each team member focused on three main books, and also read at least three secondary books so that each novel was read by more than one person.

“We prepared by splitting the books up so everyone had a main three to read which makes it much easier to remember than if we were all to read all fifteen,” Marshall said.

In the Grand Battle, which takes place in the Education Network television studio in Boynton, an announcer asks each team questions such as, “In which book was there a pond inside a house?” Competitors have ten seconds to correctly name the corresponding title and author for a panel of three judges. The battle was tough, and the lead varied between the two teams. Dreyfoos also faced off against Jupiter High last year, so the battle was intense. However, Beaux Arts prevailed and answered 20 questions right. In the end judges rang a bell, signifying that the competition was over.

“I was very relieved and excited when we won. We worked really hard to be able to go again and I know we were all looking forward to that competition all year,” Horan said. “Just going is fun, but being able to wear that gold medal really makes all of those hours staying up and reading worthwhile.”

Beaux Arts won medals, Barnes and Nobles gift cards, and the right to retain the official Battle of the Books trophy. After a victory lunch at Sweet Tomato, the team took a  trip to Barnes and Nobles, and visited Principal Susan Atherley’s office to show off the trophy and snap a few pictures. Afterwards, Beaux Arts returned home, and team members are looking forward to next year’s competition.

“In last year’s [Muse article] I said that I looked forward to winning next year’s medal and the year after’s,” Horan said. “Well, the 2017 medal will surely complete my collection.”