A sticky end for colouring comp
Doing their best colouring-in for a competition won a Hawera Primary School class a celebrity visitor.
Twenty children from the school’s Room 4 went to a movie with Leanna Cooper, one of the presenters of children’s television show Sticky TV.
The bubbly host flew down from Auckland especially to join the class of six and seven-year-olds at the cinema.
The class had sent away 24 carefully coloured-in pictures of characters from the movie The Secret Life of Pets, said teacher Lauren Wanstall (Miss W to her class).
Their prize was the afternoon movie treat which included fizzy drink and popcorn.
Wanstall said the idea came from one of her students, Sophie Barker, who has made a hobby of entering competitions with her mum, Keri.
‘‘We went on the website and saw the competition,’’ said Sophie. ‘‘We enter competitions quite a lot.’’
It’s not the youngster’s first Sticky TV prize - a little while ago she won a music pack from the popular programme.
Her latest competition entry was for the chance to name Cooper’s new feline TV co-host, a kitten.
Sophie, who has two cats named Baxter and Murray, thought the new kitten should be named Star.
Cooper is Sophie’s favourite presenter so she was very excited to meet her in person, she said.
The celebrity’s arrival drew cheers from the 20 children in the cinema foyer and even some hugs.
It was Cooper’s first visit to Hawera, and a bit of a treat for her as well, she told the children.
‘‘I don’t get to fly to a different city very often to go to a movie.’’
The visit was a surprise for some of the children, who were not sure of Cooper’s role.
‘‘Are you in the movie?’’ one youngster asked the presenter.
‘‘No, just Sticky TV,’’ she replied.