Story contest on energy opens for primary schoolers

4 Apr 2012

Broadcaster and sports pundit George Hook with Jodie Binns and Kyle O'Shaughnessy at the launch of the Tell The Future story-writing competition encouraging primary school children in Ireland to think about energy and powering buildings of the future

‘If I was the Government and my job was to think of a clever way to provide energy for our homes, schools, hospitals and factories, my plan would be … ‘ – that’s what primary school children around Ireland are being asked to expand upon in a Tell The Future short-story competition about energy challenges and the environment.

The competition is being run by Tell The Future, which is part of a pan-European initiative – Future of Rural Energy in Europe (FREE). The initiative is supported in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by Calor Gas.

The aim of the competition is to get students thinking about the environmental and energy-related concerns facing rural communities in particular.

There are two categories in which students can enter: junior and senior.

The school of the winning entrant in each category will receive five netbook laptops, while the winning entrant themselves will have his or her story transformed into an animated video, which broadcaster and sports pundit George Hook will narrate.

First-prize winners will receive their own iPad and a trophy. Second and third-prize winners will each receive a Kindle.

Hook has also lent his support to this year’s competition by creating an animated video.

Students have until Friday, 18 May to enter the competition.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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