Chevron Readers’ Cup winners honoured

DUBAI: The winners of the Chevron Readers’ Cup were honoured at a live ceremony at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature following a hotly contested ‘read-off’.

The hugely popular competition for schools is held to find out who is top of the class when it comes to mastery of reading skills with students competing against other schools in a series of heats, answering questions from a list of books by a variety of international authors. The team with the best knowledge of the selected books is crowned winner.

Close to 5,000 students entered this year’s reading quiz in the first round, with 87 teams competing in the finals, which were held in Arabic and English in person in two age groups — Primary and Secondary.

This year has seen an unprecedented number of participants for the Chevron Readers’ Cup and the teams hailed from the UAE as well as the GCC. The winners were awarded trophies, certificates and book vouchers.

The prizes were presented by Muhammad Al Sadek, Commercial & Government Relations Manager, Chevron; Renu Sharma, General Manager & Country Chair-UAE; and festival director Ahlam Bolooki.

This year marks the eleventh year Chevron has sponsored the competition, which has become a popular fixture in the academic calendar.

Renu Sharma, General Manager and Country Chair UAE, Chevron Middle East JV’s & Aviation, said: “We have been proud of our continued sponsorship of The Chevron Readers’ Cup. This lively quiz shows that reading can be fun and entertaining as a group activity, engaging with books in such a dynamic way.

“At the same time it imparts the benefits of reading, so important for academic success across the board. It is our hope it will kindle in those taking part a love of reading that will continue throughout the contestants’ lives.”

English winners: Primary Age Group:

1. The Maverick Readers, Indian International School, DSO, Dubai
2. The Polar Readers, The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, Dubai
3. The Elementals, GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai

Secondary Age Group

1. MRIS-G Team 2, Manarat Al Riyadh International, Girls, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2. Where the Wild Books Are, St Mary’s Catholic High School Dubai, Oud Metha, Dubai
3. Millennium Senior Readers, The Millennium School, Dubai

Arabic winners: Primary Age Group:

1. The Bright Future, Dar Al Uloom Private School, Falaj Hazza, Abu Dhabi
2. Hikmat Al-Ula, Al-Hikmah Private School, Nuamya, Ajman
3. Knights of Creativity, International School of Creative Science, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai

Secondary Age Group:

1. Pioneers of Creativity, Dar Al Uloom Private School, Falaj Hazza, Abu Dhabi
2. Promising Pens, Dar Al Uloom Private School, Falaj Hazza, Abu Dhabi
3. Ambassadors of Reading, Al Marefa School 2, Cycle 1 and 2, Secondary Education Girls, Fujairah

The Festival brimmed with sessions to engage, entertain and inform, with topics encompassing fiction, history, current affairs, food, health, travel, biography, business and more. There were opportunities to appreciate poetry, take part in creative writing workshops and generally indulge in intelligent and articulate discussion on a wide range of topics.

Other initiatives celebrated at the Festival included the Voices of Future Generations, which launched its second anthology of winning stories; the School Librarian of the Year; OUP Story Writing Competition; RGS Guildford Dubai Children’s Letter Writing Competition; ENBD Poetry For All; Emirates LitFest Writing Prize; and the announcement of the second 10 fellows for the First Chapter: ELF Seddiqi Writers’ Fellowship.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Festival is held with Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture.

It is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.