![\"Jayda-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Jayda-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The United States Embassy in Nassau, The Bahamas is pleased to announce the winners of the 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay contest.\u00a0 The purpose of the contest is to encourage students to explore the life of Dr. King and his impact on the civil rights movement.\u00a0 The contest attracted participation from high school students throughout New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s theme came from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s famous speech entitled, I Have a Dream where Dr. King shared his dream of a world where all people lived in peace and harmony.\u00a0 Students nationwide were asked to write an essay about how peace and harmony could be achieved in The Bahamas.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s winners illustrated love of country and a desire to see nonviolent social change in their communities.<\/p>\n
Here are the top three winners and excerpts from their essays:<\/p>\n
Jayda Ritchie, It\u2019s time for us all to stop talking and start doing.\u00a0 We need community centers and strong national mentorship programs supported by the church, government, corporate volunteers and caring neighbors to focus on at-risk children.<\/p>\n Many of these children seek love and attention in all the wrong places such as gangs and inappropriate companionship, resulting in them getting involved with crime or sexual relations at a young age.\u00a0 If we all do our part we can change this vicious cycle.<\/p>\n Whenever I hear the heartbreaking news of another senseless shooting or armed robbery, I cannot help but wonder why guns are so accessible. This constant supply of dangerous weaponry stands obstinately in the way of our achievement of a peaceful Bahamas.<\/p>\n The simple pull of a trigger takes an innocent life.\u00a0 The formation of a police force dedicated to the removal of illegal weaponry and the termination of black market weapons trade is essential.<\/p>\n The foundation of any strong society is based upon healthy families and good values.\u00a0 When there is weakness in the family unit, it negatively impacts society at large and as a result at-risk youth are becoming involved in anti-social behavior.\u00a0 Parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children, and enforce discipline when there is a violation of moral and ethical rules in society.<\/p>\n Rhema Nottage, a 12th grade student at St. Andrew\u2019s School received an Honorable Mention.\u00a0 The top winners received a Microsoft Surface tablet, books on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and EducationUSA college advising materials.<\/p>\n U.S. Embassy, Nassau, Bahamas<\/p>\n Captions:<\/p>\n Photo 1: U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. Lisa Johnson presents 10th grade student at Queen\u2019s College Jayda Ritchie with her first place prize, a Microsoft Surface tablet.<\/p>\n Photo 2: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Neda Brown presents Tiffany Hanna, 11th grade student at St. Augustine\u2019s College with her first place prize, a Microsoft Surface tablet.<\/p>\n Photo 3: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Neda Brown presents Waynisha Saunders, 10th grade student at C.V. Bethel High School with her first place prize, a Microsoft Surface tablet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The United States Embassy in Nassau, The Bahamas is pleased to announce the winners of the 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":143531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[204,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n10th grade student
\nQueen\u2019s College\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u201cTaking Back Our Bahama Land.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"tiffany-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tiffany-2.jpg\")
Tiffany Hanna, <\/em>
\n11th grade student
\nSt. Augustine\u2019s College<\/em>
\n\u201cAchieving Peace and Harmony in The Bahamas.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n![\"waynisha\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/waynisha.jpg\")
Waynisha Saunders,
\n10th grade student
\nC.V. Bethel Sr. High School<\/em>
\n\u201cA Social Cure for a National Ill.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n