Two Filipino kids were among the 10 children across Asia who were awarded the 2021 Scholastic Asia Young Storytellers Award (Saysa).
The awards were given during the virtual award ceremony held on Jan 22, 2022 and entries came from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Saysa judges were Selina Lee, vice president of Scholastic Asia; Christabel Pinto, senior director, Global Literacy Program of Room to Read; Catherine Wu, Scholastic Asia’s reading ambassador and Peter Reynolds, award-winning author and illustrator.
Among the 14 Filipino kids selected through public voting and judging by Scholastic Asia, two young storytellers were chosen: Cassandra Ysabel Ignacio and Phoebe Nigudula.
Both of these are students at St. Scholastica’s Academy of Marikina.
Scholastic launched Saysa in October 2021 leveraging the use of the digital space to provide a platform for children to showcase their talents.
Saysa invited readers aged 4 to 10 to express their creativity through storytelling and Scholastic wanted to encourage children in Asia to be confident as they narrated and read from their favorite Scholastic storybook while instilling a competitive spirit and a sense of camaraderie among peers.
