FROM LEFT: Dr. Kerry Hall, CEO of the BTPA; Leah King, Manager of the Foster and Ince Cruise World; winner of the Junior Division, Jaden Dowridge of the West Terrace Primary School; and Manager of the NTHP at the BTPA, Marsha Alleyne.
Broome, Dowridge win 2017 FCCA essay contest
Aariel Broome of Queen’s College and Jaden Dowridge of West Terrace Primary School are the winners of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) 2017 Essay Competition in the Senior and Junior Divisions, respectively.
For their hard work, they both received a Bds$4 000 cruise voucher compliments BTPA and Foster and Ince Cruise World, as well as One Dive on the Atlantis Submarine. Broome and Dowridge collected their prizes during the awards ceremony, which was held at the Barbados Tourism Product Authority (BTPA) headquarters yesterday morning.
In the senior division, Chinua Yearwood of the St. Michael School (SMS) placed second, while Crystal Prescod, also from SMS, copped third place.
In the Junior division, Jordyn-Quinn Agard of the Happyvale Montessori Primary School took second place and Neveah Kai Holder of the People’s Cathedral Primary School took third place. Meanwhile, Joshua Moore was awarded for good graphic presentation of his essay and Isaiah Philips was awarded for submitting a very creative entry.
Marsha Armstrong, Programme Officer of the National Tourism Host Programme (NTHP) at the BTPA, revealed that both winning essays were submitted to the FCCA Headquarters in Miami to represent Barbados’ entries for the regional competition.
“Jaden’s essay placed first in the Junior division. Second place went to Antigua and third place went to The Bahamas. In the Senior division, we did not place. First place went to St. Lucia, second place went to Grenada and third place went to Dominica,” she said.
For his achievement, 10-year-old Dowridge will be awarded an all-expense paid trip to Merida, Mexico from October 23 to 25 to attend the FCCA Caribbean Cruise Conference, where he will accept his reward of US$3 000 for himself and US$3 000 for his school.
Reading the judges’ comments, Armstrong noted that they expressed that Dowridge’s essay was great as he made mention of quite a few places in Barbados and seemed to have captured the diversity of the island. For Broome, the judges believed that it was an excellent idea that showed creativity and research.