Cayman students fly high in regional writing contest
(L-R) Diamond White, Rotary Sunrise president Christine Matthews, Nathaniel Harlowe, Sophie Dickson and competition coordinator Hendrik-Jan van Genderen
(CNS): Two Cayman primary school students have earned top-10 places in a Caribbean-wide writing competition. Diamond White and Nathaniel Harlowe, both 9, competed against 66 students in Cayman, aged seven to 11, to be considered for final honours in the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020’s fourth annual Butterfly Storybook storytelling contest.
Diamond, of Prospect Primary School, wrote “A Rare Encounter” and Nathaniel, of Cayman Prep submitted “The Pebble”. Sophie Dickson, 7, of Cayman Prep, was the third Cayman entrant chosen for the regional competition for her short story “Caribbean Kindness”. The stories were based on this year’s theme: “Giving something special to someone special through acts of kindness, friendship, leadership and/or respect.”
This success marks Diamond’s second year in a row to be chosen among the top 10 in the competition; he was among three earning that honour from Cayman last year.
Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise facilitated the contest locally. The two Cayman students’ stories will be included in a book to be published by Amazon, and will be available for worldwide sale in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
“This is truly exciting to see that we have some excellent and talented young writers in the Cayman Islands,” said Rotary Sunrise’s storybook competition coordinator Hendrik-Jan van Genderen. “The club’s literacy committee members judged the local competition and chose the top three nominees.”
Diamond, Nathaniel and Sophie, and their family and teachers, were special guests at the Rotary Sunrise weekly meeting held earlier this month, where the children read out their stories and received gift certificates of $50 each.
“It was truly a joy, and privilege, to host the children and to be a part of the blossoming of young talent in the Cayman Islands,” said Rotary Sunrise president Christine Matthews. “We wish all the participants, and especially the winners, great success in their lives. Every child who participated is already a winner.”
The two top-10 winners will also receive prizes from the E-Club, which is also giving all 66 Cayman contestants certificates of participation.
Category: Primary School, Service Organisations
