This
story
features
a
learning
activity
that
took
place
prior
to
school
closures
due
to
COVID-19.
Bull
Run
Middle
School
held
a
March
Madness
tournament,
but
the
competition
did
not
play
out
on
a
basketball
court,
instead
it
had
students
reading
books
and
voting
for
their
favorites.
When
the
tournament
was
interrupted
with
the
recent
school
closure,
the
competition
was
kept
alive
by
School
Librarian
Krisi
Beall.
Each
year,
Beall
gathers
a
list
of
the
most
checked
out
books
in
the
school.
The
top
two
books
from
eight
different
genres
create
the
"Sweet
16
March
Madness
in
the
Library"
tournament.
"Before
the
titles
are
chosen,
students
are
observed
predicting
which
titles
will
make
the
Sweet
16,"
shared
Beall.
"To
promote
a
book
title,
students
encourage
friends
and
classmates
to
check
out
specific
books
to
increase
circulation,"
Beall
added.
Each
week,
students
pick
their
favorite
books
by
visiting
a
voting
station
and
scanning
a
QR
code
on
a
posted
form.
Voting
stations
are
set-up
outside
the
library,
in
the
hallways,
in
classrooms
and
in
the
cafeteria.
Votes
are
also
collected
using
a
Google
form
that
is
posted
on
the
school
library's
webpage.
"Once
voting
starts,
students
begin
campaigning
for
particular
books.
For
example,
we
have
a
group
of
seventh-grade
girls
in
an
intense
fantasy
versus
science
fiction
battle,
which
has
been
going
on
for
months,"
Beall
shared.
Seventh-grader
Gwyneth
Moreno
stood
strong
behind
her
fantasy
favorite,
"Red
Queen"
by
Victoria
Aveyard,
while
classmate
Kathy
Guo's
pick
to
win
was
Neal
Shusterman's
"Scythe,"
a
science
fiction
novel.
Both
students
frequently
stopped
by
the
library
during
lunch
to
see
which
title
was
winning.
Schools
closed
just
when
it
was
time
for
the
Final
Four
battle
to
begin.
Not
wanting
to
let
the
students
down,
Beall
made
sure
the
tournament
continued
by
encouraging
students
to
vote
using
the
Google
form
on
the
library's
webpage.
Books
from
the
science
fiction,
historical
fiction,
mystery,
and
sports
genres
rounded
out
the
Final
Four.
The
Championship
Round
had
"Scythe"
by
Neal
Shusterman
from
the
science
fiction
genre
facing-off
against
Jason
Reynolds'
"Ghost,"
a
sports
novel.
The
winner
was
"Scythe"
by
Neal
Shusterman.
"We
started
this
school-wide
reading
program
five
years
ago
in
order
to
highlight
the
school
library
and
promote
reading.
What
we
find
most
important,
is
this
program
is
based
completely
on
student
voice,"
Beall
said.