Country Newspaper Association of Victoria Awards Winner

Year 11 student Ella Rose Spence was recently announced as a winner in the annual CNAV (Country Newspaper Association of Victoria) Awards. The Awards were announced here on Saturday November 6th. Ella Rose was the winner in the Best Writing by Person Ages 18 or Younger with her piece “It’s a Girl’s Life” in the ‘Stratford Town Crier’. Congratulations Ella Rose.

Judges Notes: With its catchy title I was immediately drawn to find out what this story might be about.  Interestingly, it was not what I had expected it to be about, but I found I was much more intrigued by the writer’s topic and their ability to incorporate many themes into such a short piece. Touching on Australia’s historical references to gun control and making comparisons to the American culture this article held Australia up as an example that America could look to. More importantly the writer was able to convey the incredibly important message about young males being at most at risk in suicides and strongly argues the point that having access to guns when their mental health causes them to have suicidal ideations is a dangerous scenario.  Some great information and statistics were cleverly weaved into the article and clearly supported the writer’s message.