May 29, 2003 – Central High School and Education Complex recently held award ceremonies to honor winners in the Laws of Life essay contest.
The Peter Gruber Foundation, headquartered on St. Thomas, funds the contest through a grant presented by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. An international character education program, Laws of Life was introduced in the territory two years ago as a pilot program at Charlotte Amalie High School and then expanded to Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. This was the first year that contests were held on St. Croix.
For the contest, students were asked to describe their personal ethical and moral standards and to explain how and why they chose those principles as their guideposts for life. The program was presented as a teaching unit in English classes.
The finished essays, coded to conceal the writers' names, were reviewed and ranked by a panel of 10 anonymous judges, each a respected member of the St. Croix community. They chose a first-place winner in each of the four grades in each high school.
The winners were:
Education Complex High School
9th grade – Joy Lawrence
10th grade – Desiree Golden
11th grade – Azmon Rougier
12th grade – Melissa Dickson
Central High School
9th grade – Jericha Harris
10th grade – Holly Rouger
11th grade – Julissa Copemann
12th grade – Swahili Willie
Each of winner received a check for $500. The presentations were made at Central on May 20 and at Complex on May 27.
Prizes were presented to CAHS and Kean students earlier in a ceremony on St. Thomas.
"Laws of Life" is the concept of investment manager and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. Since its inception in the 1980s, thousands of contests have been conducted in hundreds of cities, each tailored to the specific needs of the host community.
Peter Gruber, president of St. Thomas-based Globalvest Management Co. and chair and sole funder of the foundation that bears his name, brought the contest to the territory.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
