Grants worth a total of $5,000 are up for grabs during the Fourth Annual Tom Pettit Memorial Thanksgiving Essay Contest which was launched in all secondary schools this week.

A $1,000 grant will be presented to the student who writes the winning essay on the subject of Why I Am Thankful, with six others in line to receive Commendation of Excellence awards worth $500 apiece.

And for the first time the First Prize winner's school will receive a desktop computer.

The panel of judges will include Education Minister Milton Scott, The Royal Gazette Editor William Zuill and Bermuda Sun reporter Ayo Johnson.

The contest is being sponsored by US Consul General Lawrence Owen and Inter-Ocean Reinsurance Company Ltd. The deadline for entries is November 10, 2000.

The length of entries can be no longer than one page of 8.5-inch by 11.5-inch paper and must be typed or hand-printed. Completed essays can be mailed to Essay Competition, American Consulate, Crown Hill, 16 Middle Road, Devonshire DV 03 or be hand-delivered to that address.

Entries must include the writer's name, address, home telephone, school, grade and teacher's name on the essay's reverse side.

Winners will be notified by telephone no later than November 20, 2000.

Tom Pettit was an Emmy-Award-winning journalist and an NBC News correspondent for 40 years and upon retirement lived briefly in Bermuda.

The Tom Pettit Award for Excellence in writing was established in 1997 by Patricia Pettit, the journalist's widow who is the principal in the local marketing consultant firm Pembroke Atlantic Ltd.

COMPETITION CPN AWARD AWD