Three bright primary school students are the winners in the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise’s story-writing competition. Now as the nominees from the Cayman Islands, they will compete in the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020 Butterfly Storybook Project.

Melissa Bachet, a nine-year-old Year 5 student of George Town Primary School; nine-year-old Christian Berry, in Year 5 at Red Bay Primary School and Jesse Ebanks, 10 years old and North Side Primary School Year 6 student, will represent the Islands in the regional contest.

The three ‘guests of honour’ at Rotary Sunrise’s meeting, this morning (Wednesday, 29 January 2014) at the George Town Yacht Club, read out their moving creations to loud cheers. All the stories celebrate the competition theme: “Families Working Together and Helping Each Other”.

Each student received a $50 gift certificate for Books and Books from Rotary President J.D. Mosely-Matchett and Butterfly Storybook Project Coordinator Hendrik-Jan van Genderen.

“Rotary Sunrise invited all primary schools in Grand Cayman, seeking students between seven and 11 years to participate in the competition, which is in its second year,” Mr. van Genderen outlined. “We received eight entries and just like last year, it was hard to select only three winners as the quality of all the stories submitted was so good,” he said.

“That is why we will recognise the winners and all the other participants during Literacy Month in March,” he added.

In the next step, the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020 will select the best 10 stories from all the nominations by Rotary Clubs in the region, he explained. These will be featured in a book, accessible via the Internet as an e-book and also in the printed form.

For the winning stories from last year, visit http://issuu.com/rotary7020/docs/butterfly_e-storybook_2013

About Rotary Sunrise Club

Rotary Sunrise is a diverse group of like-minded professional, ages 30 years and older who are committed to serving the community. The group is scheduled to meet at the George Town Yacht Club for breakfast on Wednesday mornings for 7am. To learn more about Rotary Sunrise visit www.rotarysunrise.ky or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rotarysunriseky

Photo captions: Photos by Bina Mani

President JD, Winners Hendrik: Butterfly Story Book Project winners (l-r) Jesse Ebanks of North Side Primary, Melissa Bachet of George Town Primary and Christian Berry of Red Bay Primary received gift certificates as prizes from Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Sunrise President J.D. Mosely-Matchett (first left) and Butterfly Storybook Project Coordinator Hendrik-Jan van Genderen.

Pres JD Winners NH Ms Sybil: National Hero Hon. Sybil McLaughlin, MBE, JP (front), congratulated the winners – (l-r) Rotary President J.D. Mosely-Matchett; Melissa Bachet, Jesse Ebanks and Christian Berry.

GTPS Melissa Bachet: Melissa Bachet is from George Town Primary School.

NSPS Jesse Ebanks: Year 6 student Jesse Ebanks is from North Side Primary School.

RBPS Christian Berry: Nine-year-old Christian Berry is a student of Red Bay Primary School.