By this, she automatically qualified for the state finals. The second and third places were taken by Paul Ruffing from the Marie-Luise-Kaschnitz-Gymnasium Völklingen and Damien Joel Schorn from the Gemeinschaftsschule Vopeliuspark Sulzbach. Ten school winners from the surrounding communities in the regional association took part in the regional finals at Saarbrücken Castle. All participants received a certificate and a book prize. The top three places also each received a book voucher for themselves and the school library.
The jury consisted of the head of the acting school "acting and arts," Petra Lamy, as well as the Saarland children's book authors Juma Kliebenstein, Esther Kuhn, Angelika Lauriel, and Alexandra Link. In addition to a chosen text that the ten school winners brought themselves, they also had to read from an unfamiliar text. This was an excerpt from "SpooKI: Giving Up the Ghost Is Not an Option!" by Ruth Rahlff. Regional Association Director Peter Gillo said, "I was pleased, after two years of online competition, to finally welcome the book-loving students from the Regional Association back to the castle. There are fewer and fewer children who voluntarily pick up a book. Yet reading opens up new and exciting worlds for the readers. Furthermore, it is the foundation of learning. Vocabulary, language usage, and concentration skills are important factors that are developed and promoted through active engagement with the written word."
With around 600,000 participants annually, the reading competition is Germany's largest reading promotion initiative. It has been organized by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association since 1959 and is under the patronage of the Federal President. The national final will take place on June 21 in Berlin. More information: www.vorlesewettbewerb.de
