Winners of the Templeton World Charity ‘Laws of Life Essay Competition’ have their say on familiar issues such as honesty is the best policy and using power of choice wisely. They were rewarded for their efforts at a ceremony at the Sheraton Cable Beach Resort.
Minister of Education, The Honourable T. Desmond Bannister commended the students for their participation in the 2010 Templeton World Charity/Ministry of Education ‘Laws of Life Essay Competition’. The Minister also applauded them for their ability to draw from someone else’s work and combine it with their life’s experiences to develop their own masterpieces.
He also thanked Sir Jack Templeton, son of the late philanthropist and founder of the Templeton Foundation for reviving the competition which allows students to discuss pertinent issues with regards to ethics and virtues on which the ‘Laws of Life’ are based. Dr. Templeton acknowledged that his father would have been proud to know of the response to this year’s competition. The entries for this year’s contest doubled and saw participation from both private and public schools in New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.
Dante Wilkinson, an eight grade student of Queen’s College was the winner of the Junior Division of the competition, while Lashie Cleare of Temple Christian Academy was the second place finisher. Warel Smith, also of Queen’s College was the winner of the senior category, while fellow student George Zonicle tied with Nakandria Neymour of Central Andros High School (Andros) for second place.
Students in the Junior Division were required to select from the topics: ‘As you give, so shall you receive, ‘Honesty is the best policy’ and ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’. The senior students were challenged to write on the topics: ‘Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative’, Use wisely your power of choice and ‘A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger’.
In his essay Dante explained that “the simple truth is fast becoming an elusive phenomena frequently overshadowed by the dark clouds of dishonesty”. He questioned the wisdom of telling the truth as in the case of a soldier who is caught behind enemy lines…”should he tell the truth knowing that the outcome could be death or betrayal?’
The eighth grade student admitted that there were a few occasions when he told white lies to avoid punishment, but when he was eventually caught, his father made him aware that the penalty for lying was severe. He noted that the late Sir John Templeton in his book ‘Laws of Life’ stated that “Deceit often takes a terrible toll on our sense of integrity and self-worth”
He concluded his essay stating that he would like to be like George Washington, the first president of the United States who held the most enviable of all titles of an honest man and agreed with Benjamin Franklin who is credited with coining the phrase, “Honesty is the best policy”.
Warel Smith addressed the topic, “Use wisely your power of choice” stating that our power of choice distinguishes us from following a leader and being that leader”.
She indicated that the power of choice enables us to conjure up anything we want to see in society. Likewise power of choice can be detrimental as in the case of Adolf Hilter who used his power of choice to killed six million Jews during the period of Nazi Germany.
He cited a case of positive power of choice when Martin Luther King Jr., the American civil rights activist who along with persons such as Malcolm and Rosa Parks who fought against discrimination of African-American and other ethic minorities in the United States of America. The senior and junior winners received laptops and the runner-ups were recipients of ipods and digital cameras. All participants were awarded certificates of participation.
Queen’s College was rewarded with a cheque towards a White Board for entering sixty students in the competition; thirty-four who were recognized for their work including the two winners in the competition. Temple Christian High School’s participation was also recognized with a LCD Projector and screen for its students’ efforts in the competition.
Source: Ministry of Education
