An Essay Competition for Kareem Clark

Kareem Clarke

Following up on their commitment to keep the memory of fallen journalist Kareem Clarke alive, his friends and colleagues are currently preparing to launch the first essay competition in his name. The competition, open to third and fourth form students from secondary schools in Belize City, will be on a topic which is particularly pertinent at this time – the culture of politics in Belize. Today, News Five spoke to Chairman of the Kareem Clarke Memorial Fund, Alexis Milan, who gave us some background on the competition.

Alexis Milan, Chairman, Kareem Clarke Memorial Fun

“We’re holding our first annual essay competition…this will be held on November twenty-first to commemorate Kareem’s birthday…of course he’s our fallen colleague. The topic of the essay is “What is the Culture of Politics in Belize and how would I change it? The essay competition is open to all high schools in Belize City. We’ve sent out the formal invitations to each institution this morning and we’re hoping to get participation from each of the high schools. We’re accepting three submissions from each high school. It’s only open to third and fourth form students and the deadline for submissions is November twelfth at midnight. Entries received after that time will not be accepted. The submissions must demonstrate originality, critical thinking and a good command of the English language. All essays will be reviewed by a panel of three judges from Sixth Form institutions. The winner will be announced on Saturday, November twenty-first^, the day we hold the event at the B.T.L. Park.”

Alexis Milan

Reporter

“Tell us why the Fund thought it appropriate in the first place to hold an essay competition as one of its activities to commemorate Kareem Clarke?”

Alexis Milan

“When we first came together and decided to start this fund we thought of ways that we could honour Kareem’s legacy and of course Kareem was an exceptional writer and we figured one of the best ways we could honour his legacy is to promote literacy – reading and writing. So the reason for this essay competition is to not only honour his legacy, but to encourage and promote literacy within the community and the society.”