Despite major construction in the parking lot of Miller Grove High School, hundreds of parents, students and teachers attended the 14th Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Jan. 26.

Gwen Green, a media specialist at Stephenson Middle School, has been volunteering for the reading bowl every year since it began. Green said although it’s not a physical sport, the reading bowl is more like a basketball tournament than a spelling bee.

“The teams are split up like a basketball team; there are five starters, five alternates,” Green said. “There are only 10 questions in a round and they don’t know which ones they’re going to be asked about. Either you know it or you don’t,” Green said.

Green said the bowl, begun by Helen Ruffin, started out small—at first there were only one or two schools participating. Ruffin, a retired media specialist from Sky Haven Elementary School, soon caught the interest of many of her colleagues and the reading bowl spread countywide. Now, it is something that takes place across the state.

This year, 107.5FM radio personality Silas Alexander greeted and thanked volunteers at the beginning of the event.

This year’s winner was Southwest DeKalb High School.