Even Villanova’s men’s basketball team can’t claim it scored 410 points in its championship game.

But the Matthews FGMS Page Burners at Forest Glen Middle School laid claim to that impressive total during the school’s six-week March Reading Madness tournament that took place starting in mid-February.

It was the first year for the event, which was the brainchild of librarian Teresa Weaver.

“We feel like the first effort was successful,” Weaver said.

Teams were chosen at random by the coaches — faculty and staff at the school — with the top-ranked readers being chosen in a special draft in front of the entire school. They then competed in a single-elimination tournament, going head to head against other teams on a randomly-drawn bracket.

The Page Burners were a powerhouse team that included the No. 1 ranked reader in the entire school based on Accelerated Reader points, DaNajah Winfield.

DaNajah said she had fun during the tournament. Her favorite book she read was “Inkheart,” about a girl whose father has the power to bring characters out of books and into real life.

The only catch is that when a character is brought out of the book, something from real life has to be put in.

The team also included La’Paula Williams, Will Riddick, Carlin Walden, Christopher Brinkley, Shakinah Golden, Brianna Henderson and Seth Moore.

Seth’s favorite during the tournament was “Specials,” the third book in a science-fiction trilogy.

Brittini Matthews, a sixth-grade English teacher who was the team’s coach, said she was proud of her team.

“We worked really hard for this,” she said. “I bribed them with everything I could. I gave them McDonald’s breakfast, Subway lunch.”

She got them special winning prizes in addition to the official winning prize, a $35 Amazon gift card.
Matthews said she thought the program was good for the students.

“We had kids who haven’t picked up a book all year who couldn’t stop reading,” she said.

Stephenson’s Starbucks Skittles came in second, and team members earned $10 Amazon gift cards.

Weaver said more than 6,650 Accelerated Reader points were earned during the competition, which was about 35 percent more than normal during that time period.

“Everybody did a terrific job,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without the overwhelming support from the faculty and staff.”

Weaver said the coaches — which included teacher assistants, office and cafeteria staff and the principal and assistant principal — went into it with great enthusiasm, spent their own money for extra prizes and even developed mentor relationships with some of their team members that will last beyond the conclusion of the tournament.

She’s already exploring ideas to make the program better next year, such as making it a double-elimination tournament to keep more students engaged for longer.