Fun, flair, and fabulous phrases
Creative young linguistic talents took part in the 2nd FORUM Bookworm Challenge on Tuesday, May 13, and provided an unforgettable competition. For the second time, the FORUM MEDIA GROUP invited primary school children from the region to put their language skills to the test. As in the previous year, the competition delighted participants, judges and audience alike.
Creativity and courage required
As a family-friendly, mid-sized group of companies in the publishing and media industry, the FORUM MEDIA GROUP is particularly committed to promoting reading and writing skills. This is how the idea for the competition came about. This year’s competition was opened by Katrin Krauß-Herkert, CFO of the Group, at 5 p.m. in the Merchinger Glasforum, the company’s central event location. 22 children from grades 2 to 4 from six elementary schools in Augsburg, Mering and Merching were on site with their families to take on the challenge.
The children were divided into year groups and each competed in front of a jury of two volunteers. The children showed a great deal of courage by presenting an unfamiliar text in front of an audience, despite being noticeably nervous. The texts, although from age-appropriate children’s books, contained some difficult words and phrases, which the children mastered perfectly.
The children then presented a text they had written themselves in the run-up to the competition on the topic of “friendship”. The stories covered both everyday situations and imaginative tales. For example, the audience heard how the exchange of soccer cards almost destroyed a friendship, what adventures a child’s cat had, or learned about an alien with six arms that is particularly good at playing tennis. These and other creative ideas enchanted the audience and jury alike.
The jury and audience listen eagerly to the presentation by a third-grader in the bistro of the Forum building.
Festive award ceremony
At the end of the evening, the three best presentations per grade were honored. Elisa from Luitpold Primary School in Mering took first place in the second grade, followed by Yasin from Merching Primary School and the third-placed Laura (Werner-von-Siemens Primary School Augsburg-Hochzoll) and Diya (Luitpold Primary School Mering). In the third grade, Paul from Luitpold-Grundschule Mering took first place, closely followed by his brother Tom in second place and Laura from Ambérieu-Grundschule Mering in third place. Dominikus (Merching Primary School) triumphed in the fourth grade, while Viktor from the Werner-von-Siemens Primary School in Augsburg-Hochzoll took 2nd place. Bastian (Merching Primary School) took 3rd place. The winners were rewarded with books, reading lamps and book vouchers provided by Bücher Pustet, but all the other children also received a certificate and a book or card game.
Following the success of the event, a continuation of the Bookworm Challenge is already being considered for next year. The FORUM MEDIA GROUP wants to use the competition to encourage even more young people to explore and develop their literary skills. We would like to thank all participants, their parents and guardians as well as the FORUM employees who made this successful day possible.
CFO Katrin Krauß-Herkert (left) applauds the 2nd grade children at the award ceremony.