The city competition in the city library was preceded by a reading competition at Salzgitter's elementary school, in which the girls and boys presented their favorite reads. The fourth graders' reading skills were put to the test and the best readers from the fourth grades were determined.
On Tuesday, 17 school winners read familiar and unfamiliar texts in front of an audience and a jury to determine the best reader.
This year, the jury consisted of two internal employees: Ellen Hoppe, a federal volunteer, and Patrick Matthews, an employee of the Salzgitter City Library, as well as two external people: Karin Verstegen (1st Chairwoman of the Library Society e.V.) and Volker Machura (Chairman of the association "Wir helfen Kindern e.V.").
For the competition in the Lebenstedt City Library, the girls and boys had the opportunity to choose a three-minute text passage from a book of their choice in the time between the school victory and the final, in order to present it to the jury, the participants and their families in the first round. The finalists' chosen texts covered various genres. From friendship stories to fantasy, crime novels, light-hearted stories and classics of children's literature, everything was included.
In the second and final round, the level of difficulty was raised. While the participants were able to prepare for the chosen text, they had to read an unknown text from another author in the final round.
It was not easy for the judges to assess, as everyone was able to read out convincingly and without mistakes. Volker Machura said at the award ceremony: "You were all great, but unfortunately there can only be one winner." And so the choice fell on Jule Galinat from Lesse elementary school. Jule particularly impressed the jury with her passage from Katja Brandis' text "Drachendetektiv Schuppe". She was presented with the winner's certificate and prizes.
But the other participants didn't go home empty-handed either! In addition to a certificate of participation, they received the book "Schatzsuche in Salzgitter" (Treasure Hunt in Salzgitter) by author Ursula Wolters.
"Being able to read well is one of the most important basic skills," said Barbara Henning, Deputy Head of the City Library, referring to the results of the recently published International Primary School Reading Survey (IGLU). She led through the competition and praised and recognized all the pupils for their school victory and also emphasized to parents and teachers: "You have done everything right in promoting reading. You can be proud of yourselves and your children."