Write a book in a day for children’s cancer research

28/11/2011

The year 11 students from Marian College were named national best book winners

Year 11 students April Golver, Bryony Calleia, Chanal Markham, Kristian Curkovic, Liam Martin, Matthew Davis, Matthew Hower, Paulaena Franco and Phillip St Flour from Marian College were named national best book winners

A cheque was presented to Peter Neilson (second from right). Teacher Librarian's Jody McDonnell, Marian College (left) and Joan Denahy, St Joseph's College Hunters Hill (right) are strong advocates of the competition

A special presentation was held at Westmead Children’s Hospital on Friday 18 November to the award the schools involved in the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day fundraising competition that raises money for cancer research.

Teams from Marian College, Kenthurst; Caroline Chisholm College, Glenmore Park; Gilroy Catholic College, Castle Hill; Terra Sancta College, Quakers Hill/Schofields and Christ the King Primary, North Rocks participated in this year’s fundraising competition.

The competition is a literary and fundraising initiative of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre and Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation with Sydney metropolitan schools raising money for the Oncology Children’s Foundation at Westmead. Students were challenged to a writing marathon in which they had 12 hours to write a children’s book in teams of five to 10 students.

Year 11 students, April Glover, Bryony Calleia, Chantal Markham, Kristian Curkovic, Liam Martin, Matthew Davis, Matthew Hower, Paulaena Franco and Phillip St Flour, from Marian College were named national best book winners in the secondary school category for their book, Teddy: a Rapper’s Tale, a story about the trials and tribulations of a repressed hip hop artist. Competition judge and chairperson of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre, Lynn Gumb, particularly noted the book’s originality and creativity.

‘It was creative and unpredictable and held my attention,’ reads Lynn’s report. ‘There was an attempt to play with the language and I think that language became a character in the story.’

Teacher librarian, Jody McDonnell, is a strong advocate of the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day competition and was extremely pleased with the students’ efforts.

‘It is amazing to think that six years ago this competition raised only $1,200 for the charity and this year we raised more than $17,000,’ said Jody. ‘Each student wrote a chapter for the book and they managed to keep the same voice throughout which is a great achievement.’

‘This charity is very close to the hearts of the Marian College community as we lost a young student to cancer last year,’ she said.

Peter Neilson, chief executive officer from the Oncology Children’s Foundation, presented schools with certificates of appreciation and spoke to students about the impact they will have on the lives of children with cancer.

‘This is more than a literary competition,’ said Peter. ‘The money you have helped raise goes towards researching childhood cancer and you are now part of the story that is helping children survive this disease.’

Terra Sancta’s intermediate team received a highly commended award for their book, Saving Alora.