May 17, 2003 — Public high school students and teachers walked away from an award ceremony at St. Peter Great House Saturday afternoon with checks totaling more than $12,000 in prizes for the 3rd annual Laws of Life essay contest.
The contest is funded by the Peter Gruber Foundation and is a joint effort of PGF and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. It fosters character education by encouraging young people to focus on moral and ethical guideposts. English teachers in Ivanna Eudora Kean High School and in Charlotte Amalie High School present the contest as a unit of the curriculum.
This year's winners wrote about a variety of themes including terrorism, the importance of appreciating family and friends, and rejecting violence as a way of life.
An independent 10-member panel of distinguished St. Thomas residents volunteered their time to serve as judges. To protect the integrity of the process, the judges are anonymous, as are the writers until the day the awards are announced. The essays they review are coded by numbers without the author's names.
Each grade at each school is judged separately. A full set of prizes is given in each grade both at Eudora Kean and at CAHS.
The first place award in each grade is $500, second is $250 and third is $150. Additionally, three students in each grade receive Honorable Mention awards of $50. The teachers of the winning students receive prizes also: $250 for first place, $150 for second and $100 for third.
The contest was introduced as a pilot program at CAHS two years ago and has proved very popular on St. Thomas. It was extended in a limited way this year to St. Croix's Central High School and Education Complex. Those schools will present one $500 prize to the top student in each grade during in-school assemblies May 20 and May 27, respectively.
To read the winning Eudora Kean essays, go to the Schools section of St. John Source. (The CAHS winning essays are posted in the "Schools" section of St. Thomas Source.)
The winners are:
Ivanna Eudora Kean High School:
9th grade
1st Ronaqua Russell
2nd Angelina Prince
3rd Elisha Jno-Baptiste
HM D'Anelle Chrystal Desire, Nicole Mitchel, Tramaine Sylvester
10th grade
1st Renee Frederick
2nd Melissa Hutchins
3rd Kaleen Moses
HM Odale Charles, Francisco Fonseca, NeAnna Sprauve
11th grade
1st Kassandra Sasso
2nd Cilva Prince
3rd Quincianny Casimir
HM Rashawn Abraham, Monique Burke, Soyika Richardson
12th grade
1st Jeb Harrilal
2nd Elroy Allen
3rd Monet Francis
HM Tequasi Hendricks, Loraine Tonge, Brandon Varlack
Charlotte Amalie High School:
9th grade
1st Amber Turnbull
2nd Sekoia Rogers
3rd Shanise Rouse
HM Shenise Edwards, Ineke Hodge, Lavin Handley
10th grade
1st Laverne Francis
2nd Cadwell Turnbull
3rd Kmisha Victoria Counts
HM Ananeika Claxton, Drinne Rawlins, George Whyte Jr.
11th grade
1st Shaneca Charles
2nd Janella Davis
3rd Michael Toussaint
HM Chaye Bernier, Sacha Gumbs, Jhade Pilgrim
12th grade
1st Iambaksye Richardson
2nd LaToya Tyson
3rd Nkosi Thomas
HM Charisse Burroughs, Amarae Blyden Richards, Takara Alana Scott
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