Elementary-, middle- and high-school students from Liberty County schools had strong showings at the Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bow, held Feb. 1 at Valdosta State University.
Other counties represented in the competition included Long, Lowdnes, Mitchell and Thomas, as well as Valdosta city schools.
In the high-school division, Bradwell Institute’s team consisting of Jordan Graham, Melissa Hawkins, Jessica Lee, Abigail Smythe, Harrison Soto, Aliyah Kindley-Thomas, Travon Walker and Alexis Wilson earned first place.
Liberty County High School’s team consisting of Lemarcus Baugh, Kahlig Bell, Bryanna Brown, Kristy Daniels, Amanda Dollar, Clayton Grant, Tiona Mulligan and Yvette Ortiz earned third place.
In the elementary division, Lyman Hall Elementary School’s team consisting of Domonique King, Calib Rodriguez, Brittney Madge, Tiana Lawton, Stephanie Johnson and Alexis Hendricks earned first place.
Waldo Pafford Elementary was recognized for participating in the bowl. The team included Aliyah McDonald, Ti’Andrea Alston, Kaylor Appelfeller, Brianna Berryman, Dominic Harvey, Myia King, Joyce Lopez, Tyler Shields and Jada Wilson.  
Midway Middle School’s team consisting of Kaitlyn Ahr, Iesha Dillard, Yazmyne Edwards, Carson Haymans, Uven-Vy Hoang, Kerstin Norby and Samantha Rosario earned first place.
Lewis Frasier Middle School’s team consisting of Timothy Beers, Kayla Hutton, Devonte King, Amberlynn Mullins, Destany Thompson and Patrick Underwood earned third place.
Each elementary- and middle-school team answered six rounds of questions based on the Georgia Children’s Award nominee list of books. The high-school students answered questions based on the Georgia Peach Teen Book Award list during their six rounds of questions.  
The first- and second-place teams from three of the regional bowls will come together to compete at the Division II Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl on Feb. 22 in Statesboro.
That competition will determine which teams move on to the state-level Reading Bowl.