The Chester County Reading Olympics featured sessions for elementary, middle, and high school students. Pictured here is a team from Valley Forge Middle School, who called themselves the Bookie Monsters, as they worked together to answer questions about the books they read for the event.
Students from across Chester County gathered for the annual Reading Olympics, a high-energy, quiz-bowl style competition in which school-based teams answer questions based on a curated list of books during several competition dates that span April and May. The event, which is organized by the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), encourages young learners from elementary levels through high school to read for comprehension, work together as a team, and share their love of literature in a spirited academic setting.
The Reading Olympics is more than just a competition; it’s a celebration of literacy, camaraderie, and critical thinking. Students take on an assigned reading list and split the reading between team members, so that each student may read four to five books and specialize in the content of each book. They then gather on competition days to tackle questions about the books, testing their understanding of the content and their ability to work as a team to come up with the correct answers.
“When students commit to reading a variety of books and preparing with their peers, they’re doing more than getting ready for a competition—they’re building habits that will benefit them for a lifetime,” said Kathy Gurnee, one of two special events coordinators who organized this important event. “Reading strengthens comprehension, sparks imagination, and improves communication, all while helping students see the world through different perspectives. Events like this show how academic challenges can also be joyful, social experiences. It’s incredibly rewarding to see so many students excited about reading and supporting one another.”
Student participant Ronnie Bednarz, a junior from Oxford Area High School, underscored the positive experience of competing in this event. “It’s a lot of fun,” he emphasized. “I get to hang out with my friends, and it gives me an excuse to read, which I enjoy doing.”
Bednarz took preparation for this event seriously. “I went a little nuts on the spreadsheet and added a scoreboard and little medal emojis that show up next to people’s names if they have read a lot of books. I also set up a function to color code automatically for books that need to be read,” he said.
His enthusiasm reflects the underlying benefits for students who participate in this event, as emphasized by his mother and event volunteer, Maria Bednarz. “I think the Reading Olympics is good for the students,” she said. “They get to practice teamwork when they discuss answers to the questions, and reading books has tremendous benefits.”
The Reading Olympics exemplifies how academic events can be engaging, inclusive, and enriching. Students don’t just read—they connect, collaborate, and grow. As the competition continues to thrive across southeastern Pennsylvania, including Berks, Bucks, Carbon Lehigh, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, it remains a beacon of how schools can create a lasting positive impact through the power of books. To learn more about the Chester County Reading Olympics, please visit www.cciu.org/reading-olympics.
