Redland Student Takes First Place In KLRN Reading Rainbow Contest

Redland Oaks student, Olivia Harris, shows off her winning story, 1st place ribbon, and certificate.
 

By Daphne Terrell

Olivia Harris, a Redland Oaks first grade student in Mrs. Sparks’ class, recently participated in the Reading Rainbow Young Authors and Illustrators Contest with KLRN. Olivia’s mother read about the contest on the Internet, but at first, Olivia didn’t want to write a story. In her words, “I was stubborn and didn’t want to do it because it was too much work for me.” Later, however, when she was playing with her four-year-old brother, she decided that she would rather write a story than play “Little People Town.” So, off to the computer room she went! While her mother wrote her words, Olivia made up a story about a deaf fox and a sloth. Her nine-page story and nine illustrations received first place recognition for her age group.

This month, Olivia got to visit the KLRN television studio, where she learned that she not only had won first place in the contest, but that she won a Dell laptop computer! She also received a certificate and a blue ribbon.

Olivia’s story, Fifi, the Fennec Fox, has been submitted to the National Competition for Young Authors and Illustrators. When asked what a Fennec Fox is, Olivia said, “It is a small pale fox, with large ears. They live in North Africa and Arabia.”

When asked what she learned from this experience, Olivia said, “I should not be stubborn. When I decided not be contrary with my Mom, it only took two days to write the whole story and about two hours to draw the illustrations.”

WOW! Congratulations, Olivia!

 May, 2008