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HomeNewsArchivesSTUDENTS GET AWARDS FOR 'LAWS OF LIFE' ESSAYS

STUDENTS GET AWARDS FOR 'LAWS OF LIFE' ESSAYS

May 27, 2001 – About 150 people — Charlotte Amalie High School students, their teachers and members of their families — gathered Saturday afternoon at the St. Peter Mountain Great House for a ceremony honoring the winners of the first "Laws of Life" essay contest held in the Virgin Islands.
In what was a sometimes emotionally charged atmosphere, the first-place winners each read their essays aloud to the audience.
Winners of the contest were:
9th grade:
1st place – Krystal Edmead
2nd place – Nikita L. Turnbull
3rd place – Khamisha Grant
10th grade:
1st place – A'Shinika Teshima Watson
2nd place – Alex Dennis
3rd place – Kerry Matthew
11th grade:
1st place – Gerson Henry
2nd place – Deon LeCointe
3rd place – Rishaun D. Malone
12th grade:
1st place – Dante A. Williams
2nd place – Vitilia Wiltshire
3rd place – Cohlene Heskey
The Peter Gruber Foundation gave cash awards to all the winners — $500 for first place, $250 for second and $100 for third. Three other essayists in each grade received honorable mention certificates and $50. They were:
9th grade – Lemar Farrington, Kirby Hodge, Vanica Pharoah.
10th grade – Bernard Lanclos, Michelle R. Malone, Sonya S. Tongue.
11th grade – Nadia Hendrickson, Vonette K. Martin, Yuniko Tonge.
12th grade – Roxanne D. Hanley, Jackielyn Hudson, Leeann Khan.
Teachers whose students wrote winning essays were also rewarded with cash prizes — $250 for first place, $150 for second and $100 for third. Several teachers walked away with more than one check because they taught more than one winner. Those who received prizes were Gayle Benjamin, Antis Birmingham, Irose Payne-Chalon, Mary Edwards, Nurseen Rogers and Erma Skelton.
The "Laws of Life" essay contest is the creation of Sir John Templeton of the Templeton Foundation and is designed to motivate young people to think seriously about their life values, about the people who have influenced them for the better and about how they can demonstrate their values in their own lives. The first contest was held in 1987. Since then, many organizations and schools around the world have conducted contests.
The Gruber Foundation was established in 1993 by Peter Gruber, president and founder of Globalvest Management Co. The foundation contributes to a variety of not-for-profit organizations and supports academic endeavors.
The "Laws of Life" competition was administered by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, which houses the Gruber fund as one of dozens of philanthropic funds established to meet long-term needs in the Virgin Islands.

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