Marley Paton and Charles Anderson.
Two Parkes Shire students are among the winners of the 10th annual Anzac Writing Competition.
Bogan Gate Public Schools’ Marley Paton (11) won the primary school category for the north division with her beautiful poem called Poppies to Remember.
Charles Anderson (13) of Trundle Central School received a highly commended for the secondary category in the north division for his poem.
A total of 680 entries were received from 34 schools across the Riverina electorate, with the winners each receiving a book prize.
“I really wanted to enter the competition to challenge myself and to have fun,” said Marley. She said she believed it was important to remember Anzac Day in order to remember the soldiers and the other people who fought and worked as hard as they could to save and protect our country.
“My poem is about how the poppies make us remember the soldiers and the nurses who saved our country. I feel like we don’t always remember the nurses.”
Charles also entered a poem. “I tried to put myself into the shoes of a boy whose father was at the frontline and wrote to him about life on the farm.”
He said the competition was a great opportunity for students to reflect on the past. “It is good to celebrate Anzac Day so we can remember what they’ve done for Australia.”
Riverina MP Michael McCormack, who runs the annual competition, said the winners stood out among a quality field of talented writers.
“As Anzac services have been cancelled this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it is now more important than ever for us all to remember our ANZACs and invoke their resilient spirit.”
All winning entries can be found in the 10th annual Anzac Day commemorative booklet. The Parkes Phoenix will publish the two Parkes Shire students’ poems in the issue before Anzac Day.