On January 9, winners of the National Library and Information System Authority’s (Nalis) Celebrity Tale-A-Thon Write a Paragraph and Spot the Logo competitions were presented with their prizes. The competitions were held during the Authority’s 12th Annual Celebrity Tale-a-Thon, which was streamed via Facebook page and YouTube on December 19, 2020.

These two competitions gave the viewers opportunities to win prizes courtesy Optometrists Today and Nestle. The Write a Paragraph competition, which was targeted to children between the ages of five to 12 years old, invited the young ones to write a paragraph about what they enjoyed most about the event and submit their responses by December 23. The competition was adjudicated in the age groups: five to six, seven to nine and ten to 12.

The second competition was targeted to parents and guardians who were invited to identify how many times the Nalis and Optometrists Today logos appeared on the screen during the programme. The first four persons to submit the accurate response were awarded designer sunglasses courtesy Optometrists Today.

The winners of the Write the Paragraph competition in the five to six year old category, who walked away with hampers from Nestle were: Vian Barnett and Kacee Figaro. Winners in the other categories who won vouchers valued $500.00 from Optometrists Today were Gabriel Jobent and Yohann Chadee (seven to nine category) and Joshuah Patron and Deandre Mitchell (ten to 12 category). The winners of the Spot the Logo competition were: Sheranna Gittens, Shade Francis, Francesca Johnson and Lesley Johnson.

At the prize-giving ceremony, Gabriella Anne Patron, Joshuah’s mother said that she was grateful to Nalis as the Celebrity Tale-A-Thon gave her an opportunity to engage in a positive mother-son activity, given their busy schedules. Also she said that the stories served to assist her son to further develop his comprehension and vocabulary skills.

Debbie Goodman, Nalis’ Manager of Corporate Communications congratulated all the winners and thanked them for taking the time to view the storytelling event. She also stated that she was impressed with the high quality of submissions received, the children’s focus, creativity and articulation of their feelings about the virtual event. All were urged to continue to participate in programmes and activities conducted by Nalis geared toward educating, entertaining and developing the people of Trinidad and Tobago.