Abigail nails Grade 6 Literacy Enrichment Writing Competition

Earlier this week, Abigail Williams of the Stubbs Government School proved that big things do come in small packages.{{more}}

It was a great day for Williams and her supporters on Wednesday when the petite Grade 6 student was announced winner of the Grade 6 Literacy Enrichment Writing Competition 2014.

In a description that was written by the 10-year-old, Williams expressed her love for writing, citing that “it sets her imagination free” and that “other than becoming a doctor, she would like to be an author”.

Williams’ short story transported the audience to a neighbourhood where she was hailed as being a hero when she saved a woman’s only son from a burning house.

In her remarks, Aldia Gumbs-Dyer, the senior education officer for curriculum, stressed the importance of being a good writer and told students that the competition serves as a stimulus for them to produce their best literary works that can be published.

“This is not merely to test your capability. We don’t just want to see how well you can write,” Dyer said, “We want to stimulate our young Vincentians to write and to share your work for all to enjoy.”

The SEO also explained that writing preserves cultural history and serves to inform generations of what happened before our time and over time. Additionally, she encouraged them to write for their own pleasure.

“In today’s society more than ever, literacy is becoming more and more important,” she said.

The competition is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and Pearson Publishers.

Like Dyer, representative from Pearson Byron Wilson also stressed the importance of being able to express oneself through writing.

“I’ve always seen creative writing in any student’s educational development. In our current system of assessment, a very high percentage of that involves writing, not only in the subject of English, but in most if not all of the subject areas,” he said.

Furthermore, Wilson opined that people’s success or failure lies in their ability to express themselves through writing, and congratulated the teachers for encouraging their students to become keen writers.

“I note that there was an improvement in the participation when compared to last year,” he said.

Kristin Glynn of Windsor Primary School was awarded second place for her interesting story about being locked in a closet by her brother and then waking up, only to realize that it was a dream.

Dixon Methodist School student Denai Alexander also wrote about being locked in the closet and was awarded third place.