NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (JULY 15, 2015) – Ten-year-old Mikael Maynard of the Nevis Academy and 16-year-old Rol-J Williams of the Gingerland Secondary School (GSS) are local winners of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Foundation’s 2015 Children’s Essay Contest, in the junior and senior divisions respectively.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) on July 13, 2015.

Maynard and Williams winning essays were forwarded to the FCCA’s Florida office along with other submissions from the Caribbean for the final round of judging and the overall winners will be selected.

Tourism Education Officer in the Ministry Vanessa Webbe, congratulated the two local winners and told the Department of Information that the Ministry was hopeful the students from Nevis would do well as they usual performed at the regional level of the contest.

She also congratulated the other students on Nevis who participated in the contest and the Ministry of Education for its collaboration.

Webbe explained that the local winners were among several primary and secondary school students on Nevis who were invited to participate in the contest. They were required to submit 500-word essays on the topic “How has the cruise industry improved my country?”

The Ministry described the essays submitted as brilliantly written, examining the benefits of cruise tourism to Nevis.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the FCCA will award cash scholarships to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners and their schools at the regional level in each category.

The 1st place winner will receive US$3,000., 2nd place US$1, 500. and the 3rd place US$1,000. In addition, the first place winners in each age category will be invited to accept their prizes at the FCCA Caribbean Cruise Conference slated for October 06-09 in Cozumel, Mexico.

In an effort to reward students for their efforts, all students who won at the local level but did not place on the regional level will receive a cash prize of US$200.