Reading competition held at library
The searing heat now enveloping Belize may not be particularly conducive to learning, but despite the weather outside a number of students are gathering inside the Leo Bradley Library this week to celebrate the art of reading.
There are ten primary school students competing in the second annual Reading Contest. The competition, which was established last year, is held to promote reading and literacy among the very young.
Mrytle Myvette, Coordinator, Reading Contest
“Promote reading. Promote literature. Offer a healthy competition and socialize among schools. Promoting public speaking, and an awareness of the connectivity between education, libraries and literacy.”
Boy reading a book
“Raccoon, the plays Director said Bear could have the part of the King because he was bigger than anyone else and Chicken got the part of the Queen because everyone thought she look regal.”
The students, who chose their own stories to read, say that before coming into today’s competition, they did some extra preparation.
Lynelle Martinez, 11 Years Old
“I worked on my facial expression and my changing of my voice.”
Q: “What story did you read?”
Lynelle Martinez
“Linda’s Bedtime.”
Q: “Can you tell me a bit about it?”
Lynelle Martinez
“Well, it is just about this little girl. She doesn’t like to go to sleep, cause she wants to play a game and her mother tells her she has to go to sleep. And she doesn’t like to say her goodnight prayers.”
Lucas Hoare, 10 Years Old
“I might, I had to practice to keep reading slow because I like to read fast.”
Q: “Do you think that you mastered that today?”
Lucas Hoare
“Possibly.”
According to Mrytle Myvette, the contest coordinator, the students will be judged on diction, creativity and overall presentation. While all the boys and girls did well, by the end of the day, both Tania Domingo and Aimee Flores emerged as the winners in the first round of the competition.
Aimee Flores, Second Place Winner
“Well, I felt that I would have been first and I was kind of nervous at first cause finding out that that girl was the champion and she was back here again. And I was like, when I am not going to come in first cause she was the champion and then when they announced that I was second I was, I said well at least I was second not really first but at least I can come back.”
Tania Domingo, First Place Winner
“Well, I just really had a good feeling about it, that I would probably win because my friend Sherry Hemmans said that.”
Both Flores and Domingo will be receiving a set of storybooks as their winning prizes in the first round of the reading contest.
The upper school competition will be held next week with the grand finals scheduled for May twenty ninth. Teachers, parents and friends are invited to attend.
