Once again, primary school students from the Cayman Islands have revealed their rich talent in storytelling. Out of 66 students aged 7 to 11 years from local primary schools who entered the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020’s fourth annual Butterfly Storybook competition, two youngsters are named to the top 10 in the Caribbean.
Their stories will be included in a book to be published by Amazon, which will be available for worldwide sale in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
Diamond White, 9, of Prospect Primary School with his story “A Rare Encounter” and Nathaniel Harlowe, also 9 years of Cayman Prep who wrote “The Pebble”, will have their stories published in the book.
In fact, Diamond has the distinction of being a repeat winner. He was among three in the Cayman Islands who were chosen last year to the top 10 in the third annual Butterfly Storybook competition that is facilitated locally by the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise or Rotary Sunrise, for short.
“This is truly exciting to see that we have some excellent and talented young writers in the Cayman Islands,” commented 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.”
The third participant was 7-year-old Sophie Dickson who authored the short story “Caribbean Kindness” on this year’s theme: “Giving something special to someone special through acts of kindness, friendship, leadership and/or respect.”
Diamond, Nathaniel and Sophie, and their family and teachers, were special guests at the Rotary Sunrise weekly meeting held on 20 January 2016, where the three 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,” Rotary Sunrise President Christine Matthews commented. “We wish all the participants, and especially the winners, great success in their lives. Every child who participated is already a winner,” she added.
The two Top-10 winners will also receive prizes from the E-Club. All 66 contestants from Cayman will receive certificates of participation, also from the E-Club, Mr. van Genderen outlined.