11-Year-Old Danash Brown Wins Essay Category in 2025 JIS Heritage Competition

Danash Brown’s winning essay in the 2025 Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Heritage Competition was recognised for its dynamic interpretation of the topic, confident writing style and arguments that were both original and thought-provoking.

The 11-year-old student of West Indies College Preparatory School in Manchester was ecstatic during the awards ceremony held on February 17 at the Summit Kingston.

“It feels amazing to win the competition,” he told JIS News, brimming with excitement.

Danash recalled that his mother had signed him up for the essay competition, noting that preparing his entry turned out to be a slow process.

“I kept thinking what I should write the essay about and how I should prepare the essay… how to start it and end it,” he shared.

Danash told JIS News that he chose to focus on the achievements of Jamaican sports personalities, drawing guidance from both his sister and mother.

“[They helped me] by telling me people that they really know about and how they achieved their greatness… like Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown,” he said.

Danash received a trophy, a tablet computer courtesy of Innovative Corporate Solutions, a $20,000 cash prize from JIS, and a $2,000 gift certificate from Domino’s.

Meanwhile, the judges’ overview was presented by JIS Special Projects Manager, Paul Allen.

“It was encouraging to see strong participation in the essay competition from students across several age groups.

The topic, ‘What do you believe is Jamaica’s greatest achievement?’ generated thoughtful responses. All essays, not only those of the prize winners, were neatly presented,” he said.

The judges noted that the submissions generally highlighted significant aspects of Jamaica’s cultural heritage, adding that it was fascinating to see students construct persuasive arguments in support of what they believed to be the nation’s greatest achievement.

Most of the essays highlighted Jamaica’s accomplishments in sports and music, with frequent references to Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Bob Marley.

“However, two general concerns were noted, and these concerns were across all categories… so poster, photography and also essay. The first was the failure of several participants to carefully observe the competition rules as outlined by the JIS, particularly with respect to the maximum length for the essay competition.

“The second and more serious concern was over-reliance on artificial intelligence (AI). In several instances, AI-generated data were reproduced verbatim, word for word, resulting in essays that were almost identical,” Mr. Allen stated.