Nine Head O'Meadow (HOM) Elementary School fourth graders were treated to a special private lunch on Friday, May 15 for completing this year's Nutmeg Challenge.

The challenge is based around Connecticut's Nutmeg Book Award, an which encourages children in grades two through twelve to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of ten nominated titles.

These books are chosen by a group of teachers and school librarians, and are organized into four divisions: Elementary (grades two through three), Intermediate (grades four through six), Middle School (grades seven through eight), and High School (grades nine through twelve).

HOM's Nutmeg Challenge is open to all fourth grade students, who read books nominated in the award's Intermediate division. Students have to read any six of the ten nominated books and actually prove that they read them in order to complete the challenge.

HOM Library Paraprofessional Alyson Smith, who leads running the Nutmeg Challenge every year, said students can do this by seeing her or HOM Library Media Specialist Beth Murphy and providing them a summary of the book.

"This way, we can make sure that they read it and didn't just read the back of the book," Smith explained. "And sometimes we'll ask them questions on top of that too."

The nine students who completed this year's challenge are Aniela Blaszczak, Abi Griffin, Hannah Hallak, Bradley Hillyer, Maddy Mattas, Bella Mehra, Sofi Mehra, Henry Murphy, and Simrin Patel.

Just like last year, Smith and Murphy went all out to celebrate the students for their hard work.

They set up a table in the library with a pink table runner and a homemade Rice Krispie treat for each student. The table was topped with a set of colorful balloons and a sign that read, "Congratulations, Nutmeg Challenge Finishers!"

That was not all, as each student could claim a bonus prize for completing the challenge, such as books, a pack of pencils, notebooks, or stationary sets, among others.

Students happily talked amongst themselves as they ate their lunch, with Smith asking them questions about their favorite Nutmeg book this year.

"This is what they were really excited about," Smith said. "And we're just happy to celebrate them."

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.