Limerick Contest to Promote Literacy

Friday 09th of February 2007 03:52:11 PM

Limerick Contest to Promote Literacy

Winning a T-Shirts for his efforts, Steve Vickery of Basingstoke, UK, was one of sixty people to participate in a literacy campaign organised by the BBC and Writing (RaW) campaign and Hampshire Library Services. Vickery won the shirt for writing the best limerick.

The contest was held during a hockey game at the Basingstoke Arena. The limerick had to have an ice hockey theme in order to win the t-shirt. Limericks were assessed by Hampshire Library and RaW staff. The Basingstoke Bison hockey team also played a role with captain Blair Manning elected to give T-Shirts to the winner.

Promoting literacy in adults and children was the aim of the contest. Being able to think creatively with children will spark an interest in reading is the viewpoint of many educators. Adults can teach children that reading is important by enjoying the pastime themselves.

Creating limericks requires a person to spend time playing with words and themes until a limerick is formed.

After the event, Roger Hammett, learning project manager for BBC South, said "We had a great evening, even if some of the entries were a bit to colourful to be read out! Working with the Bison is a great way to increase interest in the RaW campaign and adult literacy as a whole. Our particular focus at the moment is parents and children learning together. We had a great deal of interest on the stand, which was really positive."

Limericks are more difficult to write than most people think. With five lines and rhyming words at the end of the lines, the limerick much also have a theme and make sense. Vickery’s winning limerick focused on the given theme, which was hockey.

Vickery looked pleased to have won T-Shirts for his limerick.

(c)Alfonso Lima, www.sxc.hu