At the morning assembly, our principal made an announcement which made us curious. Our school, Sugathananda Maha Vidyalaya celebrates its one-hundred-and-twenty-year anniversary on September 1, 2022. To mark this event, he hopes to produce 120 books written by students. This was a great challenge, but it motivated me to be one among the one-hundred-and-twenty writers. He said that there will be a training program with the help of the Readplus Foundation and the Goethe Institute.
We went to school in casual dresses on June 12, to take part in the training program. We were divided into groups. My group learnt to make faces in the first session. This was conducted by well-known artistes, Aunty Ruth and Uncle Chandimal. We went to our childhood down memory lane.
We enjoyed working with clay. Then we drew our faces. It was my first piece of art. I felt proud of myself. The session was followed by a glass of fresh juice.
The next session was held under the mango tree with Uncle Sydney. He taught us to make chain stories. The first one started with one sentence. The next one added the next sentence. We built a story like that.
After lunch, we watched a German film called the Flying Classroom. Uncle Safeer taught us how to watch a movie and improve our imagination. Aunty Poornima told us the story. Then we could understand the film easily. One of us had to start the first line of a story and the others completed line by line.
It was an unforgettable day. I refreshed my dream to become a writer someday.
The next day was a Monday but it was a holiday. We went to school in casual dresses. All were surprised to see each other in coloured frocks on a school day. I was so happy to see Aunty Dharma Samaranayake, who is a well-known author. We had discussions with aunty Shiromi who is a journalist.
The film on day two was The Slippers. It was also shown by the Goethe Institute.
Uncle Safeer was busy organising everything.
We started to love reading and writing through this workshop. We learnt how to create stories. Building plots was a totally new experience to us.
We had a closing ceremony. We received certificates and also developed our reading and writing skills. It was a turning point in my life. I am waiting for the day when I can see my name among the writers in Sri Lanka.
Thilukshi Piyumra Herath
Grade 7D
Karukkuwa Sugathananda Maha Vidyalaya,
Madampe