Six senior school students were named as finalists in a competition that asked them to share the reasons why they are thankful.The young writers impressed a panel of judges with their originality, creativity and writing skills in the 14th annual essay competition.The Tom Pettit Thanksgiving Essay Competition saw about 90 students from senior schools across the Island answering the question ‘what are you thankful for?’ in less than 500 words. The competition is in the spirit of the American Thanksgiving, observed this year on November 24.The finalists have been named as Jasmin Bacaba of CedarBridge Academy, Kennedy Anell Middleton of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, Amber Reid of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, Jack Ricciardi of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, Jaret Simmons of CedarBridge Academy and Tahirah Smith of CedarBridge AcademyEducation Minister Dame Jennifer Smith is expected to announce the overall winner at an awards ceremony at Camden next Wednesday.The winner will be awarded the first prize grant of $1,000 and the finalists will receive commendation of excellence awards and $500 grants.Patricia Pettit founded the competition in 1997 in memory of her late husband, Emmy award-winning NBC TV journalist Tom Pettit. Its goal is to inspire tomorrow’s journalists.Selecting this year’s winners was a panel of judges made up of Royal Gazette senior reporter Sirkka Huish, Bermuda Sun senior reporter Raymond Hainey, well-known educator Florenz Maxwell, Ministry of Education teacher mentor Julie Foggo and Attorney General Kim Wilson.Corporate sponsors of the competition are Edmund Gibbons Ltd, Orbis Investment Management and the XL Foundation.