Congratulations 2025 CCSD Reading Bowl Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Cherokee County School District Reading Bowl!

The annual event for students in grades 4-12 is a timed competition to encourage reading, develop reading comprehension skills, and offer a fun extra-curricular academic opportunity.  

The competition, organized by CCSD Academics & Accountability, includes two divisions, elementary and middle school, and features questions from books selected by a CCSD committee of educators.  

Little River Elementary School earned first place in the elementary school competition, with Hickory Flat Elementary School placing second and Indian Knoll Elementary School winning third place.  E.T. Booth Middle School, for the fourth consecutive year, won first place in the middle school division, with Dean Rusk Middle School earning second and Freedom Middle School placing third.             

The Little River ES team, coached by media specialist Deana Cicero and teacher Dawn Urban, is made up of Finley Hedlund, Dhruvan Kadiyala, Ashira Kestur, Evan Khelili, Mustafa Mahroof, Lilla McCarthy, Makenna Seckington, and Evey Westerlind.

The E.T. Booth MS team, coached by media specialist Amanda Graves and teacher Jamie Stahler, is made up of Demi Adekunle, Ezra Afebuame, Zion Afebuame, Jahnavi Bellamkonda, Rijo Beniston, Hakshara Bisetty, Lilah Bourgault, Claire Casselman, Ahana Das, Arnav Ghode, Lily Jones, Thomas Joyce, Zofia Kuczma, Sadie Kunzman, Hannah Norris, Rishabh Pandya, Kyler Sealock, Ishva Shah, Kara Shervington, David Tetteh, Pranav Vasishta, and Natalie Vest.

The Hickory Flat ES team, coached by teacher Macy Landry and media specialist Marissa Williams, is made up of Leah Bustraan, Grace Hardie, Scarlett Harris, Ella King, Krithi Kulkarni, Emma Lindsey, Matteo Maldonado, Reyna Perisic, Shri Sanevelly, Brynlee Schumacher, and Kelsey Starner.

The Dean Rusk MS team, coached by teachers Misty Harper and LeeAnn Owens, is made up of Zoey Burke, Lane Carras, Gracelyn Chettiar, Malachi Holt, Alice Hutchinson, Julianna Kennery, Sadiya Kahn, Luke Lewis, Declan Mahon, Eva Maldonado, Charlie Markham, Madeline Rice, Max Silverman, Jyothsna Thammana, Leyna Trurong, and Couper West.

The Indian Knoll ES team, coached by teachers Kim Brown, Allison Eubanks and Peggy Rein and media specialist Jennifer Lewis, is made up of Caleb Anderson, Lilian Boggs, Matias Bravo Sanguinetti, Anamaria Gavalas, Elliot Giallanza, Baya Ginn, Charlene Kaufman, Maddox Moulder, and Abbygail Rice.

The Freedom MS team, coached by teachers Amber Alexander and Allison Cook and media specialist Amanda Struchtemeyer, is made up of Izaya Atterberry, Sarah Bourg, Boubacar Diallo, Rylee Elkins, Hailey Holton, Everett Hutchins, Mandy King, Logan Manthey, Elin Paige, Sabreyann Samples, and Hunter Wheeler.

The first-place teams will be recognized by the Cherokee County School Board and Superintendent of Schools Mary Elizabeth Davis at an upcoming school board meeting.

High school reading bowl teams will compete at the annual statewide TOME Student Literacy Society reading bowl, as will some of CCSD’s elementary and middle school teams.

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