Feb. 10, 2009 — A’feyah Smith of the Guy Benjamin Elementary School on St. John and Jessica Gaston of St. Croix Educational Complex are finalists in the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association’s 2009 Children’s Environmental Poster Competition.
The V.I. Department of Tourism announced Tuesday that Smith is a finalist in the junior division and Gaston is a finalist in the senior division.
The poster contest is coordinated each year by the Department of Tourism on behalf of the cruise association, which sponsors the contest throughout the Caribbean region. The poster contest was open to all U.S. Virgin Island students ages 12 and younger for the junior division and ages 13 to 16 for the senior division.
This year’s competition focused on environmental awareness and protection and required each student to depict at least three ways in which his or her destination can make a difference in preserving the environment.
The finalists’ posters were chosen by judges from 32 posters submitted. The selected posters, according to a press release, captured the history, culture, and natural beauty of the U.S. Virgin Islands while emphasizing the need to be environmentally conscious in the Caribbean and around the world.
Participating schools included St. Croix Educational Complex, Lew Muckle School, and the St. Croix Seventh Day Adventist School on St. Croix; Guy Benjamin School on St. John; and Church of God of Prophecy School, Gladys Abraham School, Antilles School, Saints Peter and Paul School, Dober Elementary and E. Benjamin Oliver School on St. Thomas. All participating students receive a gift bag from the Department of Tourism.
The U.S.V.I. finalists’ posters were submitted to the association's selection committee to compete in the regional contest. The committee will select a first-, second- and third-place winner in each division and announce the winners by Friday. Both the winners and their schools will receive cash prizes ranging from $1,000 for the third place winners to $3,000 for the first place winners.
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