Knight Readers take on the WIRC competition

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March 28 marked the second virtual competition of the annual WIRC Competition that normally takes place at Seton Hill. WIRC is the Westmoreland Interscholastic Reading Competition where students compete against other schools and test their knowledge of a supplied list of books. 

This year, Norwin’s two teams took on schools such as Freeport, Greensburg Salem, Franklin Regional and Burrell, in 4 rounds of 30 questions, each about one of the 30 books.  A total of 18 Norwin High School students participated in the competition with 9 students on each of the two teams. In the end, the freshmen and sophomore team, named “The Knight of the Living Dead,” with Mia Pierce as team captain, took 8th place over the junior and senior team, named “The Team I Never Named,” with Olivia Knoechel as team captain, which took 12th place. 

“We did it differently than we typically do,” said senior Jessica Kessler, treasurer of the club. “It was over Zoom. It was very fun and we grew a lot, like we got to know each other a lot through the lunches and competition. The mock competition was super goofy and fun.”

At the conclusion of the competition, a “most valuable player” from each team was named. Nicholas Cormas, from the Team I Never Named, was awarded this title for reading the most from his team; he read  10 books total. From The Knight of the Living Dead, the most valuable player went to Liam Murphy for reading an astounding total of 17 books. 

“We worked well as a team and enjoyed a good bonding activity,” said senior competitor Trinity Joy.

While the competitions may not have gone as well as desired, it was still a very enjoyable time. Towards the end of the competition, both teams had a good comeback. Nonetheless, they were able to work together as a team and create a happy moment that will be quite memorable. For seniors on the Team I Never Named, this was their last competition.

“Just being able to be with my friends and meeting new people,” said Jess Kessler when asked about what she will miss most. “Because I met so many friends throughout this club and I’m going to miss being able to read with them and share all of the same interests.”

WIRC is a part of the overarching club of Knight Readers. Knight Readers offers a community of readers who come together not only to compete against others through their comprehension skills, but also as an opportunity to participate in book clubs and the voting of favorite books. 

“WIRC is a really good club for like-minded people who enjoy literature,” said senior Trinity Joy, secretary of WIRC. “It’s called WIRC because of the competition we attend but that’s so minimal compared to everything else we do,” added senior Taylor Podob, president of the club. 

Knight Readers and WIRC are a very inclusive and opportunistic club for anyone who loves to read. In the future, Mrs. Kauffman, advisor for WIRC and Knight Readers, hopes that the amount of participation can increase so WIRC can once again support three teams.

“I’m hoping that if we have any more readers out there that they will become interested in joining us, and getting to meet some other readers,” said Mrs. Kauffman. “It’s a great opportunity to meet other people throughout the grades.”