Students Urged to Begin Preparations for JIS Heritage Contests

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) is encouraging students to begin preparations now for the agency’s annual heritage contests.

The competitions, which target primary and secondary level students across the island, will run from August to October 2015. The students have the chance to win attractive prizes including hotel stays, computers, book vouchers, and gift baskets.

For the Heritage Essay Competition, students are being invited to write on the topic: ‘My Life as My Favourite National Hero;’ while the theme for the Heritage Poster Competition is: ‘A Moment in the Life a Jamaican Hero’.

All entries must be submitted by filling out the entry forms on the website: www.jis.gov.jm.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the JIS, Donna-Marie Rowe, said the themes were selected to allow the students to “immerse themselves in the history and background of our heroes, putting themselves in their places and walking around in their shoes.”

She is encouraging students to take advantage of the early announcement of the themes to begin to do their research in order to ensure that their submissions are of high quality.

The CEO noted that the agency is advanced in its preparations for the competitions and “look forward to receiving their best work as they write and create masterpieces.”

The essay competition is open to primary level students, aged nine to 12 years. The essay must be written in English, between 400 and 500 words, be original, and include a bibliography. All entries must be submitted via the entry form on the JIS website.

Entrants for the poster contest is open to secondary level students in grades seven to 13, who are asked to submit a computer graphic or an illustrated poster. The posters must be done in landscape or portrait orientation, and must be no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches.

Graphic entries should be submitted through the entry form on the JIS website, and a link to the poster provided to a cloud storage such as DropBox, SkyDrive or Google Drive. All images used must be selected from those provided on the JIS website.

For illustrations, the entry form provided in PDF on the website, should be printed, completed, and submitted long with the poster to either the JIS head office located at 58a Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston 10; or the JIS Montego Bay Office, located at the National Housing Trust Building, 2nd Floor, 42 B-C Union Street, Montego Bay, St. James.

Students of Jessie Ripoll Primary and Ardenne High School topped the essay and poster contests, respectively, in 2014.

Sponsors were Franklyn D. Resort, Singer Jamaica Limited, LIME, CARIMAC, Guardian Life, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Frame Art, Victoria Mutual Building Society, NCB Foundation, Jamaica National, Royale Computers and Accessories, Stephen Jones Landscaping, and WB Trophies.

Mrs. Rowe expressed appreciation to the sponsors “for their excellent contribution in prizes and awards as they support the JIS in reaching the next generation.”

“Your generosity has guaranteed the success of the competitions. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of these high achievers in the JIS Heritage Competitions,” she said.