The Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture is again partnering with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) to promote the 2010 FCCA Foundation Children’s Essay Contest.
This year’s topic is: “What can my destination do to become more competitive in the global tourism market?”
An invitation to participate has been extended to all primary and secondary schools throughout the twin-island state. The competition is used to further complement the Ministry’s focus on increasing an awareness of tourism among the nation’s youth while at the same time provide an opportunity to sharpen their writing skills, engage them in thoughtful reflection, tap into their creativity and encourage them to share their ideas.
The contest will be conducted in two age categories. Participants in the Junior Division must be 12 years of age and under (must not pass their 13th birthday by September 26, 2010) while the senior division contestants should be 13 – 16 years old (must not pass their 17th birthday by September 26th, 2010).
Each participant must submit one essay of approximately 300 – 500 words in length on the topic. Essays will be judged on content/subject, creativity, style/structure and grammar.
The contest will be judged in three rounds. During the first round, each of the participating schools will select one winner from each age group and submit the school’s top entries to the Ministry of Tourism on or before June 14th, 2010. All entries considered the schools’ best will be judged in the second round by a national selection committee which will choose one winner from each age group to represent Antigua and Barbuda in the third round of judging.
The FCCA’s Selection Committee will determine first, second and third place winners in each age category from among the essays submitted by all participating Caribbean countries.
Cash awards will be made available by FCCA to the top three winners ranging from US$1,000 to US$3,000 with similar amounts to be awarded to the school represented by each of the winners.
The two first place winners (one from each age group) will also be invited to read their essays and accept their awards at the FCCA Caribbean Cruise Conference scheduled to be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, October 25-29, 2010, all expenses paid.
On the local level, all students whose entries are submitted as their schools’ best will be celebrated at a special ceremony at which they will each receive a Certificate of Participation with award plaques presented to the top two national winners. Like previous years, arrangements will be made for the students along with their teachers and parents and Zone Officers in the Ministry of Education to experience a site tour and lunch on a luxury cruise-liner docked at the Heritage Quay Pier.
