Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Story Star winner makes family proud
XIA DU Toit’s story, based on her family's favourite holiday destination, saw her win the 2021 Story Stars Essay Competition.
This was announced by
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer this week.
Story Stars is an animated short film, created using stories written and narrated by Grade 4 learners, which details the epic adventures of Felix and Felicity. Learners needed to write Felix and Felicity's next chapter with themselves as the hero of the story.
Xia’s chapter of the story, called
Afrika-kinders (Children of Africa),
was about her family’s favourite holiday destination, the Kruger National Park.
“The Kruger is so part of South Africa that I had to bring aliens into the bushfield. I even taught them the song that my mother sings to us every time we visit the national park. Felix and Felicity meet all the wild animals – lion, African wild dog and many more.
“They also try to find the ‘krokkenoster’, a jumble of the Afrikaans words ‘krokodil’
(crocodile) and ‘renoster’
(rhinoceros), and the
‘krokkefant’, another Afrikaans muddle of ’krokodil’ and ‘olifant’
(elephant).”
Xia, a Grade 5 learner at Mikro Primary in Kuils River, said she never thought she would win.
“It was an amazing experience to record my story in an actual studio. The best feeling, however, was on Monday when I saw the animation of my story for the first time. I was overwhelmed when I saw how my story was shaped into an animation and it felt so real.
“I would like to encourage this year’s Grade 4 pupils to also enter the competition. You will never know where Felix and Felicity’s adventures take them…” she said.
Her mother Ilismi said: “At first I thought Xia was joking when she came home with the news.
“I recalled how I laughed when she wanted to include some of our family-holiday secrets and songs in her story. Later we heard the WCED visited her class to announce her essay as the winning-story. I was so proud.”
Schäfer said: “I congratulate
Xia for her wonderful story , which was chosen because she used the correct punctuation, spelling and vocabulary, and was also extremely creative in her story