Three West Seattle schools have teams at the citywide Global Reading Challenge finals tomorrow night – and everyone’s invited to go cheer them on – Arbor Heights, Highland Park and Lafayette Elementary Schools are all in the running (as is Concord International School from nearby South Park). Read on for the announcement we just received from the Seattle Public Library:

Ten teams of fourth- and fifth- graders from Seattle Public Schools will compete for the top spot in Seattle at the city final of the 2009 Global Reading Challenge at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Microsoft Auditorium, Level 1.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for a special event rate of $5.

The winning team from the city final will go on to face the top teams from Fraser Valley, British Columbia and Coquitlam, British Columbia at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 13 in the Video Conference Final at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 Third Ave. S. in Seattle.

More than 2,500 fourth- and fifth- graders from more than 40 Seattle Public Schools studied 10 books to prepare for the Global Reading Challenge.

The ten top teams in Seattle are listed below.

* “Orange Lightning Reading Squad” from Arbor Heights Elementary School – Kelsey Hay, Suad Ibrahim, William Lawrence, Emily Richards, Andreina Preciado-Macedo, Noelle Tyau, Jade Vazque

* “Sapphire Sparrows” from Blaine Elementary School – Aiden Sheckler, Nathan Schmidt, Jack Hunter, Theron Baker, Ian Jammes, Zac Parke

* “The Flaming Dragons” from Concord Elementary School – Landon Blacktongue, Faduma Farah, Bryana Martinez, Samantha Medina, Yusuf Mohamed, Malachi Musclerat, Adarian Vidalon

* “Nerdy Turtles” from Highland Park Elementary School – Amy Ly, Laura Le, Polly Bond, Ngan Le, Autumn Luna, Cecelia Drury, Soleil Wieland

* “Muir’s Roaring Readers II” from John Muir Elementary School – Vivian Tat, Sophia Boyd-Fliegal, Elise Van Deventer, Ellen Huynh, Cindy Luong, Becky Keomany, Alexis Simmons

* “Awesome Speedy Stinging Readers” from Lafayette Elementary School – Hannah Young, Lindy Honts Tongol, Elisa Sun, Miles Durnwirth, John Henzler, Alex Nguyen

* “F-3 Mobile Sunshine” from Maple Elementary School – Jennifer Lau, Ella Virdell, Jasmine Woon, Elyzha Abella, Joseph Ma, Christopher Yuan, Andy Wong

* “Readers of Time” from Orca at Whitworth Elementary School – Grace Gleysteen, Stella King, Emmy Sohn, Mika Kitazumi, Emmett McCann, Lila Danielsen-Wong, Noah Silverman

* “The Awesome Worldwide Readers” from Stevens Elementary School – Treanna Ross, Naomi Tilles, Liam MacDonald, Charlie Heberer, Nina Paretsky, Ella Knowlton, Miles Krauter

* “Cookies and Cream” from Van Asselt Elementary School – Zipporah Johnson, Jerry Ho, Christine Truong, Niena Nguyen, Gerome Tabasan, Zewdi Berhane

Mary Palmer, children’s librarian at The Seattle Public Library, said the Global Reading Challenge is modeled after a former weekly Chicago radio show that tested children’s knowledge of books. On the radio program, aired more than 60 years ago, questions about characters, plots and settings were answered by teams representing different public elementary schools.

According to Global Reading Challenge rules, questions are read and repeated once. Teams have 30 seconds to write down the answer to a question.

“The purpose of the Global Reading Challenge is to promote the love of reading and to have fun,” Palmer said. “This program introduces children to a wide variety of literature and multicultural reading materials and provides a recreational outlet for readers. It makes it possible for students of all reading levels to participate in a public library activity that promotes reading as a pleasurable lifelong experience.”

For more information, call The Seattle Public Library at 206-386-4636.