PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, District 7020 Butterfly Story writing contest has recently announced their winners, with much appreciation to our local young authors. The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset received 18 stories, with 3 being submitted to the Rotary E-Club for consideration to be published in this year’s Butterfly Story book. The club congratulates DéSjaniah Lake for emerging as the overall winner.
“The Little Dreaming Caterpillar”, by Stella Palmer and “Catching Butterflies”, by Sahana Rinker both from the Montessori School and “John the Mongoose”, by DéSjaniah Lake of the Methodist Agogic Centre JAG emerged as the three best stories from the 18 stories submitted to the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and sent to the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean.
This year, the participating schools and students included Hemant Punjabi, Hiten Punjabi and Sierra Hodge of the St. Dominic High School. From the Montessori School, the participants were Gabriel Amado, Gabriel Antunez, Arhan Baharani, Adriaan Coppelmans, Christiaan (Chris) de Wilde, Giselina (Mimi) Greaux Domatilia, Sebastian Russo, Sophia Suire, Amani van der Camp, Kjeld van der Meer, Daan Vinke, Charlie-Shanti Winkel. From the Methodist Agogic Center (JAG), there was one submission from DéSjaniah Lake.
The Butterfly Story Book writing contest challenges creative young writers aged 7-11 to tell their stories. The students were asked to write a story reflecting acts of kindness, friendship, leadership and/or respect. This could involve friends, family and/or pets and specifically illustrate the Caribbean culture, consisting of 300-750 words. The contest was open to students residing in the Caribbean as an opportunity to become published young authors.
All participants were invited to the Emilio Wilson Park for a time of celebration. All participating schools and students received certificates for their contribution. The winner, DéSjaniah Lake, received a cash price of $50.00 from the Rotary E-Club of Caribbean and a JBL speaker compliments of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset. The winner will also have her story published in the 2021 Butterfly Story Book alongside winners from other Caribbean countries. The general public is encouraged to purchase a book sold on Amazon by searching: The Butterfly StoryBook (2021): STORIES WRITTEN BY CHILDREN FOR CHILDREN: A project of The Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020.
Youth Service Chair of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, Kimberley Duzong, thanked all participants for submitting exceptional stories and encouraged them to continue writing. She also thanked the principals, teachers, and parents for supporting this endeavor and encouraging participation of their students.
The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month at Carl N Sons Unique Inn and Conference Facilities in Cole Bay at 7:30pm. Due to COVID-19, the club currently meets via Zoom. The club can be contacted via email at rotarysxmsunset@gmail.com or via the official Facebook page at facebook.com/rotarysxmsunset.
