Helen Ruffin, Creator of Georgia Reading Bowl, Dies

DeKalb County school leaders noted the death of library specialist Helen Ruffin, who created a statewide Reading Bowl to test student knowledge of literature.

Ruffin, a former library media specialist at Sky Haven Elementary School, died Nov. 22. Funeral services were held Dec. 1 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 294 Peyton Rd SW in Atlanta, with interment at Forest Hills Memorial Gardens.

“Today, we celebrate Helen Ruffin’s life, contribution and passion for reading and learning throughout Georgia,” DeKalb Schools Superintendent Michael L. Thurmond said in a statement.

The school system said that in 1985 Ruffin served on the selection committee for the Georgia Children’s Book Award nominee program. This literature program began in the Department of Language Education at the University of Georgia’s College of Education. This literature program inspired her to use the nominee books to encourage her students to read.

Ruffin created the Reading Bowl, the schools said, where teams of students from different schools compete to test their knowledge of the books picked in the Book Award program. Today, the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is open to students in grades four through 12 across the state.

The DeKalb County’s School System’s Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl has hosted both the local and state competition.

»Photo of Helen Ruffin, courtesy of the DeKalb County Schools Facebook page.