Students Encouraged to Begin Working on Entries in JIS Competitions

Primary and High school students are being encouraged to begin working on their entries in the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) 2015 Heritage Essay and Poster Competitions, which are now open.

According to Chief Executive Officer of the JIS, Donna-Marie Rowe, the agency is pleased to once again give young Jamaicans an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of  “our heritage and its impact on our lives.”

“We are encouraged by the success of these competitions and stage them to motivate students to conduct research and become more aware of the history that surrounds us,” Mrs. Rowe explained.

“This year we are asking the students to immerse themselves in our heritage, to walk the path taken by one of our heroes many years ago and to live the experience. The students who express this journey best in writing and capture one single moment in a hero’s life most effectively, will emerge winners of this year’s essay and poster competitions. We encourage our students to get started right away,” she urged.

Highlighting the entries in the inaugural poster competition, which kicked off last year, the CEO said that the judges and staff of the JIS were impressed with the artistic interpretation of the students who used the elements provided on the JIS website.

The Essay competition, which is in its fifth year, targets children at the primary level who are between the ages of nine and 12 years.  Contestants are required to write an essay on the theme: ‘A Day in the Life of My Favourite National Hero’.

For the essay competition, students are required to write between 400 and 500 words, which will be judged on relevance to the topic, originality, accuracy and analysis of research data, writing style and language skills. Essay submission 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 competition is open to students at the secondary level from Grade seven to 13 under the theme: ‘A Moment in the Life of a Jamaican National Hero’.  Entries 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 submit 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, 2nd Floor, 42 B-C Union Street, Montego Bay, St. James.                                                                 Deadline for submission of entries for both the Essay and Poster competitions is midnight, Saturday, October 31, 2015.

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 book stores.

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.