Does your student have a passion for writing? Now until June 3, children in the DFW area have the chance to delve deep into their imaginations to compete in the “Young Writers’ Award 2014,” with a theme this year of “Fairytales and Fables.” Not only will children pre-K through eighth grade have a chance to share their 500-word tales of princes and princesses, dungeons and dragons, witches and mermaids and goblins and giants, but the winner will receive a Kindle Fire and $500 worth of books for his or her school.
This prestigious award, which started in the U.K., comes to the U.S. for the first time thanks to Explore Horizons, a U.K. tutoring center that recently opened for the first time in DFW.
Liz Pichon, award-winning illustrator and author of the Tom Gates series is judging the 2014 competition, which will be announced September 1, 2014. With 10 books to her name and countless awards for the hugely popular Tom Gates, she is perfectly positioned to review this year’s stories and inspire even more children to put pen to paper and explore the stories within their own imaginations.
Explore Horizons, will be running free workshops with local libraries, book stores, schools and community groups to inspire children’s love of writing and encourage them to get involved.
“We’re thrilled to have Liz Pichon as our judge,” said Belinda Southgate, head of U.S. marketing. “Her illustrations and hilarious stories have made children and parents laugh out loud for years and she is a fantastic inspiration to children entering the competition. We believe the theme of ‘Fairytales and Fables’ opens up a whole world of possibility for our young writers. We all have our favorite fairytale and we want children to get adventurous and create something that they and their families can treasure forever—and, most importantly, have fun while writing!”
Explore Horizons provides math and language arts tutoring to children of all abilities and backgrounds, including gifted students, those studying English as a second language and children with special needs.. Each session is tailored to a child’s individual needs to create a fun and vibrant atmosphere for learning that has shown tremendous results in the U.K.
The U.K. tutoring company opened it’s first center across the pond in Colleyville in March and is currently planning the opening of its next center in Fort Worth for summer 2014, with more centers to come to North Texas.