JIS Extends Deadline for Heritage Essay and Poster Competitions

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) has extended the deadline for entries in the 2015 Heritage Month Essay and Poster Competitions.

Students now have until midnight on November 7 to make their submissions. The eight-day extension, from the original deadline of October 31, is to allow more time for students, who have expressed an interest, to send in their entries.

The essay competition is being hosted by the agency for the fifth time, while the poster competition is in its second year.

The essay contest targets children at the primary level, who are between the ages of nine and 12 years. They are required to write between 400 and 500-word pieces on the theme: ‘A Day in the Life of My Favourite National Hero’.

Entries will be judged on relevance to the topic, originality, accuracy and analysis of research data, writing style and language skills.

Essay submissions should also include the Title Page and Bibliography or List of References. At least one of the references must be a JIS source. Essays should be submitted using the application form at: www.jis.gov.jm.

Meanwhile, the poster contest is open to students at the secondary level from grades seven to 13. The entries, under the theme: ‘A Moment in the Life of a Jamaican National Hero’, may be submitted in two categories – illustrations and graphic design.

The posters will be judged based on interpretation of the topic, originality, neatness and presentation.

Graphic posters should be no larger than 11inches x 17 inches (landscape or portrait) and should include no other image but those provided on the JIS website through DropBox.  All pieces must be submitted by filling out the entry form on the website: www.jis.gov.jm.

Students entering the graphics category are being asked to send in their posters using a cloud storage service, such as DropBox, SkyDrive or Google Drive. Illustrations, however, should be mailed or delivered to the JIS Head Office, 58a Half Way Tree Road, or the Montego Bay Office, located at the National Housing Trust building, 2^nd Floor, 42 B-C Union Street, Montego Bay, St. James.

Prizes will be awarded to the top participants of both competitions, courtesy of sponsorship from corporate Jamaica, including financial and tertiary institutions, technology companies and bookstores.

Relatives of JIS staff members are not eligible to participate, and students entering the competitions should ensure that they retain a copy of their work.

For further details, interested students are being asked to contact the JIS at 926-3590-4, or email: heritageessay@jis.gov.jm or heritageposter@jis.gov.jm.