Choosing the Right Competitions for Your Students

​Tome Society offers a rich variety of opportunities for students to grow in literacy, creativity, and critical thinking. With 20 individual competitions, the Reading Bowl team competition, and two chapter-level competitions, advisers often ask: How do I decide which competitions are the best fit for my students? The answer depends on your chapter’s goals, schedule, and the level of commitment your students are ready to make.

The Reading Bowl is one of Tome’s most rewarding - and most rigorous - competitions. Students who participate commit to reading all of the tested books on their chapter’s Tome Book Award list. Throughout the school year, they will take three online tests that measure comprehension and retention.
The top four teams earn the exciting opportunity to travel to TomeCon, where they compete in person for the Reading Bowl Championship. This experience builds teamwork, accountability, and deep engagement with literature, but it does require steady dedication from both students and advisers across the entire school year.

If a full-year team commitment feels like too much for your current season, your chapter can still participate meaningfully - and successfully - through Tome’s individual competitions.
Each chapter may submit one entry per competition category for judging. These competitions allow students to showcase their unique talents in areas such as writing, media creation, and art while working within a manageable timeframe.
An added benefit: every competition entry and winner earns points toward the Chapter of the Year award, allowing your chapter to build recognition even without participating in Reading Bowl.

Many advisers find success by selecting a combination of opportunities that match their students’ interests and availability. Some chapters fully embrace the Reading Bowl experience, while others focus on individual competitions, or thoughtfully incorporate both. Whatever path you choose, each competition provides meaningful ways for students to grow as readers, thinkers, and communicators - and helps your chapter thrive within the larger Tome community.