29 character-themed student essays chosen from more than 6500 essays
COLUMBUS, OHIO (August 21, 2012) – The Better Business Bureau Center for Character Ethics is proud to announce the 2012 finalists in its statewide Laws of Life Essay Contest, a unique character-themed writing competition for students in grades 6-12.
The statewide contest, in its twelfth year, is open to winners of local Laws of Life essay contests for both middle and high school students. The contest encourages students to think about the people and experiences that have helped to shape their values and challenges them to write about what they believe in. A panel of business leaders, educators and community volunteers judged the entries. Perseverance, compassion, fairness and appreciation are some of the topics this year’s finalists wrote about in their essays.
Sir John Templeton, noted financier and philanthropist, created the Laws of Life Essay Contest in 1987 to challenge young people to reflect and write about their values. Today the contest is a true community-wide effort that promotes communication between students, teachers, parents and business members to advance universal ethical principles like forgiveness, honesty, respect and love. The BBB Center for Character Ethics adopted the contest to help young people develop positive ethics that will lead them into adulthood as our future workforce. Major support for the contest comes from Honda of America, Wendy’s, the Walker family and the English Family Foundation. Local schools and community organizations can visit http://lol.centerforcharacterethics.org/ for information and assistance in sponsoring a local contest.
Finalists, their parents, teachers and contest judges will attend the Awards Banquet on September 20, 2012 at the Villa Milano in Columbus where the winners will be announced. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown will address the finalists and offer congratulations. Cash prizes ranging from $25 to $500 will be awarded to finalists, their teachers and contest coordinators.
For more information about the program, please contact Lucy Frontera at lawsoflife@centerforcharacterethics.org, or 614-893-9971
Contest Finalists (in alphabetical order)
|
County |
Student |
School |
|
Lucas |
MacKenzie Abel |
Springfield High |
|
Pickaway |
Ross Berger |
Westfall High School |
|
Henry |
Torri Biddle |
Liberty Center High School |
|
Trumbull |
Rebecca Breighner |
Brookfield Middle School |
|
Franklin |
Chaz Davis |
Dominion Middle School |
|
Summit |
Jessica Dixon |
Green High School |
|
Pickaway |
Erik Fischer |
Teays Valley High School |
|
Portage |
Kitana Foris |
Stanton Middle School |
|
Muskingum |
Thaina Gatti |
West Muskingum Middle School |
|
Cuyahoga |
Valerie Grunau |
Ohio Connections Academy High School |
|
Medina |
Robert Hahn |
Wadsworth Middle School |
|
Portage |
Tara Hilverding |
Crestwood High School |
|
Franklin |
Leslie Jones |
Sherwood Middle School |
|
Franklin |
Rose Kalemba |
ECOT |
|
Trumbull |
Alexander Lischak |
Brookfield Middle School |
|
Lorain |
Anthony Loparo |
Lorain County JVS |
|
Franklin |
George Matthews |
Walnut Springs Middle School |
|
Portage |
Ryan McBride |
Roosevelt High School |
|
Franklin |
Hannah McKenzie |
Westerville North High School |
|
Belmont |
Natori Neff |
Bellaire Middle School |
|
Putnam |
Megan Niese |
Miller City-New Cleveland Middle School |
|
Marion |
Megan Rengert |
Tri-Rivers Career Center |
|
Allen |
Brooke Rudasill |
Bath High School |
|
Muskingum |
Madison Paul |
West Muskingum Middle School |
|
Monroe |
Kristen Shaffer |
Beallsville High School |
|
Summit |
Mary Shaffer |
Coventry High School |
|
Perry |
Anna Slatzer |
Holy Trinity School |
|
Summit |
Alanna Walsh |
Green Middle School |
|
Licking |
Madison Wheeler |
Licking Valley Middle School |
|
Auglaize |
Jenna Whitaker |
Waynesfield-Goshen Local Schools |
BBB of Central Ohio serves Columbus and 21 surrounding counties as a leader in advancing marketplace trust by encouraging best practices, celebrating role models, and denouncing substandard behavior. BBB sees trust as functions of respect, ethics, intent, delivering results and addressing concerns. Businesses and charities that earn BBB Accreditation have agreed to live up to our high standards and principals for trust. BBBs provide free and easily accessible Reliability Reports on businesses, Wise Giving Reports on charities, educational information, objective advice, and dispute resolution of marketplace complaints. The first BBB was founded in 1912, and today a network of 128 local BBBs serve communities across the U.S. and Canada, evaluating and monitoring more than 3 million businesses and charities. Please visit www.bbb.org for more information about BBB.
