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Westmount Kids
Building Bridges / 1

Local students show off their literary stuff in the 2016 McEntyre Writing Competition

Introduction by Wayne Larsen

In what has become an annual tradition in Westmount schools, the McEntyre Writing Competition always attracts a wide variety of thoughtful and creative entries, and the 2016 edition was no exception.

Endowed by the late Peter McEntyre, mayor of Westmount from 1969 to 1971, the competition encourages young writers to express themselves on a designated topic, each designed to get the creative juices flowing. It is coordinated each year by the Westmount Public Library.

In 2016, “Building Bridges” was the topic assigned to students in grades 1 through 11.

Westmount Magazine presents the full texts of the first-place entries in each grade category, as supplied by the Westmount Public Library.

Here we present Grades 1 through 4.


FIRST GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | AKIVA SCHOOL

Callie Gelber

Untitled

If I could build a bridge to anywhere it would be to heaven. I would build a bridge to heaven because of my grandpa. My grandpa was a very smart man. He was a bone doctor. I never met him. He died because he had a brain tumor. I really wish I could meet him. That’s why I want to build a bridge to heaven. I don’t only want to see my grandpa in heaven. I also want to meet all of my other family members who have passed away.


SECOND GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | SELWYN HOUSE

Nanji Lucas

The Wooden Bridge

Once there was a very strong bridge that could hold back a tsunami. It was in Japan. People were rushing to build it before the tsunami season came. The season started in April. It was March twenty when they started building but by April it was not big enough. “Go, go, faster!” yelled the boss. “People are coming to help us!” he said. “We need gold to make the bridge strong. Marcus was digging for two days. He found a lot of worms but then he saw something bright. The worms were sitting on a boulder of gold. Marcus could not find his way out of the tunnel for two days. He finally found his way out on the other side of the bridge and he saw a crack in it. He was really going to keep the gold at first but he patched the crack with it instead. When the tsunami came there was not a scratch on the bridge. The workers said” The bridge is patched, but who did it?” Marcus said” I did it! You see, I got lost and came up on the other side of the bridge. I fixed the crack with the gold that I found.” That’s how they made the strongest bridge ever.


THIRD GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | MISS EDGAR’S AND MISS CRAMP’S SCHOOL

Zoe Halliday

The Amazing and Secret Bridge

One day, there was a girl named Zoe. She was a nice girl who lived in Canada. She was eight years old and she had a cousin named Pippa. They were very good friends but the problem was that Pippa lived in Australia, so they couldn’t communicate very often. They went to school thinking of each other. When Zoe got home she had dinner and went to bed. Then she went to bed and fell asleep. She had a amazing dream. Her dream was there was a hole in the wall. It was a flap. Through the flap it lead to a bridge and the bridge lead to Pippa’s house. They played with each other and they so much fun! Beep! Beep! Beep! Her alarm clock went off. She raced into her Mum and Dad’s room and she said “Mum can we go to Australia to see Pippa.” “I’ll see” said Mum. So she went to school thinking of Pippa. Then she came home and asked Mom “Are we going to Melbourne.” Mum surprisingly said “Yes.” Zoe screamed. She was so happy. Zoe asked Dad for his tools. He said “Yes.” She looked in the tools and found a bridge making machine. Zoe saw a button in the middle of the machine. She pressed it all the way to the airport to see what would happen. It made the beginnings of a bridge from her house to the airport. She held it all the way through security and the security people said “You can’t have that on the plane it’s dangerous.” She said “it’s a bridge maker it can’t hurt anyone.” The security lady said “Fine as long as you promise not to hurt anyone.” Zoe said “I promise.” Then she hopped on the plane still holding the button. She held it all the way to Pippa’s house and then let go. She was so so happy to be at Pippa’s house so she went to get the saw out of Dad’s tool box and went inside to tell Piappa what she had done. Pippa was interested. She said “Is it true.” Zoe said “Yes it is. I’ll show you.” Then Zoe carved a hole in the wall and showed Pippa the bridge. When she saw it she smiled then said “I love it.” They decided to walk the bridge. When they were walking they made up names for the bridge. They thought of The Communicater then they thought no. What about the Helping Bridge they said no. what about The amazing and secret bridge. They both liked that name so it was called the amazing and secret bridge. When they got to the other side they got the saw and cut another hole in Zoe’s wall then were both so excited. They couldn’t believe what they had done. They were so excited to see each other all the time. They went inside Zoe’s house. They played for a while then they walked back to Pippa’s house. They didn’t tell the adults about what they had done. When they got home Zoe’s Mum said “Time to go home.” Zoe said “By Pippa see you on the bridge.” They smiled at each other and moved they had fun seeing, each other very often.


FOURTH GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | MISS EDGAR’S AND MISS CRAMP’S SCHOOL

Mélodie Zabbal

Untitled

A bridge helps you get across
A bridge is something that holds
together
through very rough times
A bridge is like a friendship
sometimes
scary
sometimes
risky
all worth crossing
have to be brave
have to talk
a bridge helps you get across to
Happiness

READ ALSO:
Building Bridges / 2
Building Bridges / 3
Building Bridges / 4
Building Bridges / 5

Image: Matheus Swanson via StockPholio.net


McEntyre Writing Competition 2017

The 2017 edition of the McEntyre Writing Competition is currently underway and the theme is “Secret Places, Hidden Treasures”.

You may compete if you go to school in Westmount (elementary or secondary, grades 1–11), live in Westmount, or are a member of a library in Westmount.

Submit your entry to the Children’s Desk, Westmount Public Library, no later than 9 pm on Friday, April 7, 2017.

To find out how to participate, please visit the Library’s website.


Concours littéraire McEntyre 2017

L’édition 2017 du Concours littéraire McEntyre est en cours et le thème est « Des endroits secrets et des trésors cachés ».

Tous les élèves du primaire (1–6) et du secondaire (1–5) qui fréquentent une école de Westmount, qui habitent à Westmount ou qui sont abonnés à une bibliothèque de Westmount peuvent participer au concours.

Tous les textes doivent parvenir à la Bibliothèque publique de Westmount avant 21 h le vendredi 7 avril 2017.

Pour savoir comment participer, veuillez visiter le site web de la Bibliothèque.



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