A 13-year-old Bermuda High School student was awarded a $1,000 grant for her winning essay in the Tom Pettit Thanksgiving Essay competition yesterday at Camden House.

Premier Jennifer Smith presented essay winner Madeline Gardener (pictured right)with her prize after her entry was judged the best out of the nearly 300 entries.

In addition to the $1,000 grant, Madeline won a $1,000 prize for her school - part of $5,000 worth of prizes in the competition.

Six other skilled essayists took home $500 awards and received Commendations of Excellence from the Premier: 12-year-old Warwick Academy student Chris Bieluch, 15-year-old Renae Black from BHS, 15-year-old Ashlie DeSouza from Mount Saint Agnes, 13-year-old Shaunee James from BHS, 17-year-old BHS student Deanna Kiernan and 17-year-old Berkeley Institute student Tonya Symonds.

Students wrote 500-words on this years topic, `Why I Am Thankful for Freedom', in light of the September 11 attacks.

"Normally, the topic is `Why I'm Thankful', but this year I thought we can expand it to include `Why I'm Thankful for Freedom'," said Ms Pettit.

When asked why she expanded it, Ms Pettit said: "I think freedom is on everybody's mind right now. Sometimes we don't think about it enough."

Madeline will read her essay at the Thanksgiving Inter-Faith Service to be held later this month at St. Theresa's Cathedral. It is printed in full below.

Education Minister Paula Cox, a judge in the contest, told The Royal Gazette that reading all the entries was not "arduous" because of the "high calibre" of copy.

She said the students did well approaching the topics of rights and freedoms, writing about the events of September 11 and including their own experiences.

Premier Smith told the audience of parents and friends: "We shall look to see which of you becomes the next journalist."

She jokingly called the Education Minister's work in judging the competition a "labour of love".

Other judges included The Royal Gazette editor William Zuill and Bermuda Sun deputy editor Bob Amesse.

The competition is co-sponsored by Bermuda-based Inter-Ocean Reinsurance Company Ltd. and the marketing firm, Pembroke Atlantic Ltd.

Tom Pettit was an Emmy-award winning NBC television journalist for nearly 40 years, and moved to Bermuda when he retired.

The competition was established by his wife, Patricia Pettit, in memory of her late husband.