Photos provided by Lori Gyhra
On April 17, 2026, Pawnee City students travel to Peru State College to compete in the Golden Readers contest. When asked about the event, Mrs. Lori Gyhra stated that Golden Readers was established three years ago, and that ESU4 and Peru State College now manage it.
This year, nine schools participated. There are three levels involved, each corresponding to the Golden Sower books. 18 teams were competing in the novel books category, including sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders. There were 14 teams in the chapter books category, including second- and third-graders. Each team can have up to four contestants. Pawnee City entered eight teams as follows:
Picture books:
PC1= Sullivan Niss, Gracelyn Weeks, Lycaon Smith, Sawyer Sunneberg
PC2= Scarlett Bloss, Layla Hall, Hayden Haarhues, Emmett Heidemann
PC3= Hunter English, Lydia Herrick, Lindsey Jones, Magdalene Kluck
Chapter Books:
PC1= Layla Cumley, Paislee Farwell, Jamie Johnson, Layney Theasmeyer
PC2= Luke Heidemann, Spencer Kosiski, Alora Spier
PC3= Silas Bloss, Zoe Smith, Mary Ries, Robert Arnold
Novel:
PC1= Abby Johnson, Tim Hoffman, Madison Hegemann, Aubree Marr
PC2= Tucker Sporhase, Halli Yunghans, Aaliyah Anderson
Mrs. Gyhra continued, ”Each category competed in different rooms. There were five rounds of 10 questions asked in each round. The teams were allowed to confer quietly for a limited time after the questions were asked and to write their answers. Once all ten questions were asked, two minutes were allowed for questions and answers. Answer sheets were collected and taken to the judges for grading. The validity of the answers was at the judges' discretion. In the event of a tie, the teams participated in sudden-death rounds."
The Picture Books team, made up of Scarlett, Layla, Hayden, and Emmett, went through nine sudden death rounds and earned sixth place overall in the picture book category. The team, composed of Luke, Spencer, and Alora, placed third in the Chapter Books category. The months of reading, practicing vocabulary words using Quizlet, and practicing answering questions paid off for these students.
During preparation, each team designed its own t-shirt, which it wore to the contest. Several parents attended the author talk by Jefferson Knapp and the awards ceremony. They had a great time at the contest.
When the fifth-grade team was asked how they got put on the team, Silas, Paisley, and Jamie responded, "It goes off of the AR level, a sign-up, if you read a lot, or you are asked to be on the team." The team went on to say that they read practice questions to study for the contest, and they read anywhere from 4-10 books.
Congratulations on all of your hard work, readers and Mrs. Gyhra!
