SUPPORTING LITERACY

10 winning essays tackle tough topic

THOUSANDS OF words had to be sifted, weighed and considered in the home stretch of the Sylvan Learning Cen- tre 1988 national essay contest, Support Literacy Write

Now.

Over the past two months, the staff at Sylvan Learning Centre received a stack of 140 essay en- tries from North and West Van- couver students.

Students from five to 18 years old addressed the topic “‘How My Life Would Be Different If 1 Couldn't Read’’ in the contest, co-sponsored by the North Shore News and The Games Gang Ltd.

“My life would be dramatically different if I couldn’! interpret literature. I would be dependent on others and I would have little self- esteem.’’

—Shelley Gornall, 14

Local judges, adding their ex- pertise to the process of choosing winners, were Barrett Fisher, North Shore News managing editor; North Vancouver City Mayor Jack Loucks; Sentinel Sec- ondary School English department head Tara Sinclair; and author and writer William C. McConnell.

Sylvan staff picked the best 10 entries per category and the judges picked a winner from a special award category and each of the three age categories — ages five to 10, 11 to 14, and 15 to 18.

Winner of the five- to 10-year-

Hy MICHAEL BEC News Reporter

old age category is Danielle Wallace of Queensbury flemen- tary School in North Vancouver. Shelley Gornall of Seycove Com- munity Secondary School in North Vancouver won the 11 to $4 cate- gory. Jennifer Moss of Hillside Secondary School in West Van- couver won the 15- to 18-year-old category.

Vincent Wong, of West Van- couver’s Westcot Elementary School, won a special five- to seven-year-old age group award for his essay entry.

In tackling the tough issue of il- literacy, contest winner Jennifer Moss, 15, concludes in her essay: “Reading is pot a luxury. It is a skill everyone should have, and everything possible should be done to encourage it. Besides, reading is fun! Where would | be if i couldn't curl up with a good book every now and then? {’d be where 25,000 other Canadians are today: nowhere.”

Shelley Gornall, 14, writes: *‘My life would be dramatically dif- ferent if { couldn't interpret litera- ture. I would be dependent on others. and I would have little self-esteem. | couldn't get a job or good grades in school. | would miss out: on many opportunities. Life, to me, would seem in- complete and confusing.”

Vincent Wong, 6, stole a judge’s heart with his closing thoughts on the issue: ‘When I grow up | want to drive -a supersonic jet car. | would have to be able to read the road signs or 1 would crash down into the trash and smash my car in a bash, That would make me really mad! [ think if I could not read my

ADRIAN PARKER (left), Len Sampson and Dawn Stewart tackled a stack of essay entries for the Sylvan Learning Cen- tre’s recent contest, Support Literacy Write Now. The essay topic tackled by local students was ‘How My Life Would Be Different If { Couldn't Read.”’

life wouldn’t be fun, It would be like the world without a sun," Danielle Wallace, 10, concludes

See Winners Page 31

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