On March 26, twenty-four Middle and three Elementary school students participated in the 2026 Bedford County Reading Competition. The Reading Competition is an annual event to foster the love of reading with a bit of rivalry mixed into it. This year Bedford sent three teams to the competition, one combined 5/6 grade team and two 7/8 grade teams.
Competing as a team, the students are given a list of 35 books to read beginning after Thanksgiving until the time of the competition. During the competition, each team competes against all of the other teams in their age group. The teams are asked alternating questions with the title of the book as the answer. Points are scored by answering your question and then answering the other team's question correctly if they miss it. Total points are then tallied from every round to decide the top 4 teams.
In the finals, the 3rd and 4th ranked teams then compete for 3rd place and the same for the 1st and 2nd ranked teams for 1st and 2nd place.
The 5/6 grade team named Bedford Book Bison brought home a 3rd place finish. The 7th grade team, The Plot Twisters, placed 4th and the 8th grade team, Bedford Bookworms, placed 5th with only a couple points separating the top teams.
The Elementary team is advised by Leigh Weyant and assisted by Alli Seager.
The Middle School teams are advised by Lori Dunkle and assisted by Deb Felix.
