A.S. King Lecture
On February 22, 2024, the Knight Readers, sponsored by the high school librarian Mrs. Kauffman, visited the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Pittsburgh to attend an exclusive lecture with a renowned author, A.S. King. During the trip, the students enjoyed attending a private Q&A with the author and a pizza dinner afterward. Then, the club members listened in on a public lecture with A.S. King after they ate, learning more about the writing world. The whole trip was sponsored by a grant given to the Knight Readers Club, resulting in a free and fun trip for all of the students attending.
Prior to the event, the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures sent each student at the Q&A a copy of A.S. King’s latest novel to read and to have autographed after the lecture.
Not long after school, students attending the event stayed in the library at the high school until the bus arrived at 2:45 pm. From that point, the readers headed to the lecture hall in Carnegie and attended a private Q&A with the author. Many readers asked A.S. King about her recent books and how she writes successfully for her young adult audience.
“We were very fortunate that Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures reached out to us and offered to send students from Knight Readers to the event at no cost to the club,” said Kauffman, the librarian and Knight Readers sponsor.
After, the club members enjoyed pizza given to the club by the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures program. Then, from 6 to 7:00 pm, Norwin students listened in on a public lecture with A.S. King among other avid readers. Finally, the Knight Readers returned to the crowded high school at 8 pm, just in time for the girls’ basketball playoff game, where the club members were picked up by their parents after getting off the bus.
Before the actual trip, the students attending received a free book from A.S. King, Attack of the Black Rectangles, telling the story of a group of young students who discover that their history book about the Holocaust is censored and blocks out “inappropriate” language for the students to learn about. Together, the group of kids try to revolt against censorship at the school to provide a genuine experience for those reading the book… one that is not censored due to their strict teacher’s standards.
Additionally, King has written many other books alongside Attack of the Black Rectangles, becoming a faculty member of the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program at a college in Vermont. After spending over a decade teaching literacy to others in Vermont, King now lives solely in Pennsylvania.
“I’ve heard Amy King speak before, so I knew she would facilitate an engaging and motivating event,” said Kauffman. “I thought the exclusive Q&A we were invited to participate in was phenomenal – she really tried to address questions from anyone who wanted to ask one.”
Many active readers in the club enjoyed learning more about the writing process and how to garner inspiration during the public lecture and private Q&A with the renowned author. Liam Murphy, a junior and elected Treasurer of the Knight Readers Club, was in awe at how well-spoken King was and very inspired after the lecture.
“She [A.S. King] spoke with such passion and so much of what she said really hit home,” said Murphy. “Her overall message of caring for others regardless of surface-level disagreements was really beautiful. It was a lecture that left me speechless. In tears and awe. On the bus ride home, I had a feeling of euphoria, and an urge to write, to express myself as much as I can.”
From The Attack of the Black Rectangles to other books by A.S. King, the renowned author spoke passionately about current affairs and prejudices that still exist throughout the world. Many students after the lecture and Q&A were inspiring for all who attended.
“She talked about the beauty of life that comes with the possibility of creative expression that everyone has, along with the horrors of the world, that only gave me more of a reason to want to live, because of the glorious possibilities for change,” said Murphy.
Westmoreland Interscholastic Reading Competition
On the first Monday of March at Seton Hill University, members of the Knight Readers Club attended the Westmoreland Interscholastic Reading Competition (WIRC) to compete in trivia-style questions about a list of books released earlier to six Pennsylvania counties earlier in the year. At the end of the competition, the Norwin Knight Readers placed 3rd and 9th in the competition out of 27 teams from six different counties. The opening remarks were delivered by Norwin’s head principal, Dr. Choby, and the competition was co-organized by Norwin High School’s librarian, Mrs. Kauffman.
In order to attend the competition and compete against other students, the readers had to read and write trivia-styled questions for at least 4 of the 30 books on the WIRC list that comes out in April every year. After studying their books and learning everything to know about the characters, setting, and plot details, the readers took a bus to Seton Hill University to compete in four rounds of competition against other teams and schools.
Early in the morning, students attending the competition got on a small bus, barely fitting everyone. However, despite the cramped spaces, the reader studied eagerly to prepare for the competition. Mrs. Kauffman, the high school librarian, played a significant role in organizing the event with 27 other schools.
“I was new to organizing, so finding the right balance between preparing our teams and making sure the event itself ran smoothly was a personal challenge,” said Kauffman. “Our teams were fantastic this year!”
During the competition, high school students marched through the halls of Seton Hill to find their room where voluntary moderators would conduct the competition between two randomly selected teams. In each of the four rounds, each team alternates between being asked 30 questions, with the chance to steal a quarter of a point if the other team gets a question wrong.
With over twenty students making up the two teams, the freshman and junior team, “Ballad of Dragons and Knight,” placed 9th overall against 27 other teams. On the other hand, the sophomore and senior team, “A Good Knight’s Guide to Reading,” placed 3rd overall in an exciting turn of events after the team thought they didn’t place well.
Team captain of the “Ballad of Dragons and Knights,” freshman Jillian Ryba, was elected as a captain for the freshman and junior team despite it being her first year attending the high school level competition.
“I feel like my team did pretty well at the competition,” said Ryba. “I enjoyed getting to work together and have fun expressing knowledge about the books that we worked hard to read and remember.”
