Library News 

Kylie Pearson & Dee McQueen

Students were very excited to be able to return to the Library this term as we came out of lockdown at the beginning of October. We have loved having students back on site and welcomed everyone with new fiction to read. 

 

A Gratitude Wall was set up in the Gallery, encouraging students to write about something they valued in their life. This also fitted in to Wellbeing’s Kindness Day, November 15. 

Book Club has been running twice a week, as students discuss what they are reading and make suggestions for new purchases. Book displays were arranged for ‘Animal Love’, ‘Read to Remember’, ‘Movember’, Myths and legends of Troy, ‘James Bond’ and ‘Climate Change’. We are also reminding people to return their library books as soon as they can – many are overdue due to the extended lockdowns this year.

 The write stuff!

Not even the most accomplished authors can claim they have written and published a book in one sitting, but that’s exactly what 41 students from Box Hill High School did (online and during lockdown) and they’ve won an award for their efforts. 

 

The students took part in the 2021 Write a Book in a Day competition which not only encourages teamwork, creativity, and literacy, but raises funds for The Kids’ Cancer Project as well. 

 

Now in its eighteenth year, over $595,000 was raised through the annual event that attracted 507 schools and writing groups with a total of 8,307 teams of pupils from Years 5 –12 who wrote, illustrated and published a book in just 12 hours. 

 

But it was Team NovelT2 from Box Hill High School that won again for their book ‘Everything is Going Swimmingly’ in the Upper School Division. This is the second year running that this team has won a prize for their writing and illustrations, and it is wonderful to see them commended for their efforts. Our heartiest ‘Congratulations!’ go to Megan Choo, Jess Tran, Wendy Huang, Cynthia Chan, Bella White, Lucy Wu and Suha Shazad.

Entries were judged by a prestigious panel including author, illustrator and TV producer, Mick Elliott, and IBBY Australia Ena Noel Award winner, Will Kostakis.

 

We are so proud of all the students that took part in this event again this year. Not deterred by the prospect of writing and illustrating a 3500–5000-word book in lockdown we had students from Year 7 through to Year 11 sign up. Students who signed up individually were added to a team and the collaboration and teamwork was simply outstanding! Their teamwork, the way they collaborated on ideas and supported each other through what was a long 12 hours online to get these books written and illustrated was just fabulous and demonstrates how incredible the students at Box Hill High School are!

 

The Kids’ Cancer Project is an independent national charity with a mission to support scientific research to help children with many different types of cancer. Owen Finegan, the Kids’ Cancer Project CEO, said he was thrilled with the efforts of all the competition’s participants. 

 

“Write a Book in a Day makes a significant positive impact on children diagnosed with cancer. Not only are the completed books uploaded to a digital library for children to enjoy in hospitals across the country, but all money raised is going toward vital medical research to discover kinder, more effective treatments so that kids survive and thrive after treatment”. 

 

All budding authors and illustrators are encouraged to sign up for 2022.

Chess Tournament 

 

On Tuesday 9th November, the library was closed to host two mini Chess Tournaments. Students who had participated in the Victorian High Ability Program in 2021 were invited to take part in the event, organised as a celebration and fun way to end what has been a challenging year.

The first tournament that was run from Period 1 to 3 had 30 Year 7 students compete and the second tournament that ran from Period 4 through to 6 had 20 Year 8 and 9’s compete. Each group were able to play 5 games of speed chess, using the clocks and challenging themselves. 

 

The tournament that was run remotely by a chess coach from the Sydney Academy of Chess aimed to encourage students to further develop their problem-solving skills. Chess is a game that requires students to concentrate, apply logical thinking and develop a whole range of additional skills including the ability to make thoughtfully considered, strategic decisions under pressure and apply problem-solving abilities.

This event would not have been possible without the support of the four Year 10 Peer Leaders who volunteered to assist on the day. These students sat in where there were absences, coached students, set up the chess boards and generally supported the smooth running of the day. A massive thank you to Abhinav Sijy, Abdullah Ayaz, Lachie Collings and Dhruv Gautam and to the staff, Ms Pearson, Ms McQueen, Ms Turner and Ying Yu who assisted throughout the day. 

 

While the day was about having fun with Maths and all students received a funky pencil and a chocolate, we did have trophies and medals. Congratulations to the following students:

 

TOURNAMENT 1 

Justin Zappulla - 1st place

Aidan Thong - 2nd place

Bailey Gillespie - 3rd place

Niyati Shukla - 4th place

Conn Xu, Dib Bhattacharya, Rex Zhao, 

Henry Le, Josette Tse, and Himanish Adi –

equal 5th place

 

TOURNAMENT 2

Caleb Low - 1st place

Navin Bala - 2nd place

Shayla Luu - 3rd place

Sebastian Chan, Victoria Wu, Barry Wall, Tina Huang and Jennifer He – equal 4th place

 

 

Fare Share Christmas Appeal

 

Christmas is coming a bit early to BHHS again this year. The Christmas Trees are up and presents are gathering beneath them as we collect non-perishable food for FareShare once again. This fabulous charity cooks over $27,000 meals a week in Melbourne, for people who are doing it tough. The last two years of the pandemic and job losses have meant that this charity is being used more than ever. If you can donate packets of pasta, rice, herbs & spices, tins of legumes or tomatoes you will be helping to feed those most in need. We will keep collecting until Friday, 10th December – read more about their great work here https://www.fareshare.net.au/