Mr. McEntire has a saying, "Be the 4th R!!" Readers! As such, Battle of the Books at BMES is different than at any other school in North Carolina. Please peruse the points below to wrap your head around this amazing program!
1) There are two BOB teams at BMES. One is the "Heavy" team consisting of 12 students who have 16 titles to cover. This team has the opportunity to win the county, region, and state for grades 4 & 5. BMES holds tryouts for this team based on a student's knowledge of 6 titles from the list of 16. These same 6 titles also comprise the reading list for our "Lite" team. CLICK HERE to see those titles upon which to focus reading energy until the day of tryouts on Thursday, October 30th, in the Media Center. At present, there is nothing to do but read until tryouts.
2) There are no losers! If a student tries out for the "Heavy" team and does not score well enough, they are invited to join our BOB Lite team which is capped at 24 additional students on the team. They will have a single opportunity to compete at the county level against all other participating elementary schools in Buncombe County.
Again, there is nothing to do at present but READ. Once the teams are determined, permission slips will be sent to families to approve full participation in the yearlong program. We will probably meet over lunch and sometimes in the morning before announcements. Students are well aware that for the last couple of years, all formal participants have been rewarded with a trip to Dollywood. We believe in the joy and impact of reading that much! While we cannot promise this trip each year, we hope to make it happen again in the spring of 2026.
Finally, any student who reads all titles from either list, will receive a certificate at our year end awards ceremony: THE READING WAR PONY certificate. This is the Media Center's highest recognition of reading achievement.
