A group of 40 rotarians celebrated the accomplishments and experiences of 14 Edgecombe County Public School students May 1 at the social club's weekly dinner at The Fountains at The Albemarle.

Nine West Edgecombe Middle School students were recognized for their accomplishments in the county and 12-county regional Battle of the Books competitions.

The Battle of the Books team won the county competition held in March, and Valerie Pearce, librarian at West Edgecombe Middle, said the team placed seventh out of 12 at the regional. The eighth-graders who participated were Tierra Dozier, 13, Tristan Brower and Amanda Rizzo, both 14. The seventh-graders honored were Arielle Whitfield and Carol Kennedy, both 13. The sixth-grade group included Aron Johnson, 12, Abena Reynolds, 10, Caleb Rose and Jennifer Hines, both 11.

Martin Middle School students Kalynn Bridgers, 14, Kaitlyn Flythe, 14 and Allison Bradley, 13, were recognized for essays they wrote that took the Rotary Club's "Four Way" mantra and applied each step to helping resolve global conflict and bringing peace to the world.

Also, Edgecombe Early College juniors Kevin and Kyle Johnson, both 17, spoke briefly about their experience this year at a RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) camp held on the North Carolina coast earlier this year.

Valerie Pearce, librarian at West Edgecombe Middle, said that the Battle of the Books students had "steel minds" for reading even half of the 26 book list they were given last spring for this year's competition.

The list included recent fiction, such as Mildred Taylor's "The Land" and James Patterson's "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment," and classics, like "Treasure Island" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

Pearce beamed when she talked about how much the students enjoyed reading and participating in the program. One accomplishment she singled out was sixth-grader Reynolds' enjoyment of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

Pearce said she had never before seen a middle-schooler read through that particular book, because of its story's length and complexity.

Eighth-grader Rizzo, who has participated in Battle of the Books since grade 6, said the program is "something I really do enjoy" and that was not available in the school system she previously attended.

She was disappointed, however, that she would not be able to participate in Battle of the Books any longer, because she will enter grade 9 next year.

Dr. Laverne Daniels, principal of West Edgecombe Middle, said she originally had plans to greet the students with a banner when they came back victorious from the county competition in March.

But the plans grew to include the whole school, with all the students meeting them and the school's band playing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" when they arrived. Daniels and Pearce both said they were proud of their students, because the school had not won the county's Battle of the Books competition since 1990.

Kyle Johnson spoke at length about him and his brother's experience at the RYLA camp after the Battle of the Books presentation.

He said their time at the RYLA camp involved learning to be more social with older people, learning about etiquette at a formal dinner and taking part in a service activity.