Children at a Kalgoorlie-Boulder school paid surprise visit by some of Australia’s greatest creatives

Schools in the Goldfields have been visited by some of Australia’s greatest storytellers, illustrators, and artists as part of the Scribblers on the Road event. Children at John Paul College in Kalgoorlie-Boulder were paid a visit on Thursday by Shane McCarthy, writer for DC, Marvel and Transformers; Zeno Sworder, award-winning illustrator and storyteller; and Brenton E. McKenna, renowned Indigenous graphic novelist and artist, for an art and storytelling presentation and creative workshop. John Paul College’s head of English Carmen McBrearty said the school kept the event a secret to surprise the students. “We didn’t really tell them, we just said ‘Oh, we’ve got this visiting incursion’,” she said. When the students met the creatives and found out about their work, Ms McBrearty said they were “blown away”. The 50-minute storytelling and creative workshop, hosted in different classes by each one the three guests, gave Years 7, 11 and 12 students the opportunity to express their creative thoughts and create stories. Ms McBrearty said the school decided to give the junior and seniors of the school the workshop opportunity to guide them into potential creative pathways. “I think when kids get into high school, that creativity is kind of squashed out of them,” she said. “We felt like that (the workshops) would be able to lay down the foundations for kids who might want to be creative and to know that English is not just about writing essays.” The Scribblers on the Road event visited several other schools in the region as part of the lead-up to the Scribblers Family Fun Day at the Goldfields Art Centre on Saturday. This will be the first time Scribblers Festival has come to the Goldfields, giving families and children the opportunity to be a part of interactive workshops, storytelling, live art, performances, Q&A, and book-signing sessions.