More than 300 students entered the Bermuda Public School?s First Annual Essay Competition.

But Dr. Andrea Lightbourne, education officer for English language arts, at the Ministry of Education, would like to see even more participants next year.

?Students will have a similar opportunity in the future to participate,? she said.

?In fact, this is encouraged. This year we had 316 entries. I anticipate that the number will be higher next year.

?Parents, teachers and students should be proud. It is up to us at the Ministry to encourage future participation for all students.?

The aim of the BPSS First Annual Competition was two-fold, she said.

?The main reason for the Bermuda Public School Essay Competition was to encourage students to write on a theme relevant to the Bermudian culture,? said Dr. Lightbourne.

?This was also an opportunity for students to showcase their writing talent publicly. In this way the Bermudian community had a first-hand opportunity to view the quality of writing that our students are producing.

?This was done primarily through the posting of the top four essays on the FKBNET website. The community was able to go online and vote for the essay of their choice.

?Some students did capitalise on the opportunity and gathered a number of votes for their paper. The winning paper in each category earned the People?s Choice Award.

?Also, seven independent (non-Ministry) judges from a cross-section of the community judged the essays and determined the rank order of the winning papers. This process was done first, then the essays were posted on FKBNET.?

Dr. Lightbourne added that the second reason for the competition was to demonstrate that there were indeed positive initiatives going on in the Ministry of Education.

?There are talented students in our system,? she said.

?The public school system is not a failure. There are some successes of which we are proud. This is important for the public to know because it encourages the stakeholders.

?Our students are our key stakeholders in education. They are the reason why schools exist. We need to keep that at the forefront of all that we do.?

Asked if she thought that the essays were well-researched, Dr. Lightbourne said: ?The theme this year was Celebrating Diversity in Bermuda.

?There were four categories: Showing off my Bermuda (take a journey through Bermuda and speak about the diversity that you see); What Diversity means to me (analyse the topic of diversity); Blast from the past (celebrating our seniors); The African Connection (researching Bermuda?s connection with Africa.)

?In each case there was opportunity for research. Some topics lent themselves to more research than others. However, students were invited to use research in all categories. The first category lent itself to creative writing.?

She said the topics were chosen because Bermuda has become an increasingly diverse country.

?This is a fact that stares us in the face every day and across all facets of Bermudian life,? she says.

?Students were invited to reflect on the subject of diversity and to home in on its meaning. They could address the topic as broadly or as narrowly as they desired, keeping in mind that they had to adhere to the number of specified words in each category.

?They were provided with a comprehensive definition of diversity which embraced: acceptance, respect, uniqueness along the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, age, physical appearance and abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs and other ideologies.

?I believe that the students handled the topics well and did a fine job in each category. Each essay had a focus that was unique. I am pleased. I feel that the objective was accomplished. I am very proud of all our students.?

The winners of this year?s competition in Group A were: Jordan Rowse, of Purvis Primary, Janico Burrows, of Somerset Primary, Nyah Emery and Johquondae Webb both of of Clearwater Middle School.

Group B saw Aysha DeSilva, of the Whitney Institute Middle School,

Sharon Bean, of Clearwater Middle School, Ivan Sanchez, of Dellwood Middle School and Evelyn Dias, of Clearwater Middle School.

The winners in the Group C category were Raymond Raynor, of CedarBridge Academy, Alexa Lightbourne, of the Berkeley Institute,

Jasmine Whitehurst and Tiffany Samuels both of CedarBridge Academy.

The Group D winners were Michael Burgess and Kemar Peters both of the Berkeley Institute, Kei-Lara Donigan and Sohie Thapa of CedarBridge Academy.

The awards were presented at the Commissioner?s House, Maritime Museum, in Dockyard on May 26.

Dr. Lightbourne said the awards presentation went extraordinarily well. ?First, we had a picture-perfect day. The students had a day of activities starting from 10 a.m. -3 p.m.

?We had an author?s corner (with writer David Chapman, dub poet Ras Mykkal and lifestyle reporter Ren? Hill) for students to learn about the writing and publishing process. ?We had an informative session about Bermuda?s gombeys presented by Janice Warner-Tucker. There was a juggler who presented: David Bean. Musical entertainment by Willard Lightbourne, a senior who played his trumpet.

?Students toured the Commissioner?s House... and then the Award Ceremony open to family and friends. I am very proud to report that our first annual competition was a huge success.?

Asked if she saw room for improvement, she said: ?Definitely.

?There is no situation that is 100 percent perfect. After our official debriefing session with other team members, I am certain that we will have the opportunity to identify areas for improvement.?