Bermuda International Business Association is footing the bill for 11 students to go to California after they showed a commitment to improving their grades during an Island-wide competition.

Hundreds of M3 students around the Island entered BIBA?s fourth annual Most Improved Student Contest. The contest required students to commit to improving their grades, attitude towards education and overall effort towards their school work, peers and teachers.

Jamela Daniels (pictured), who organises BIBA?s local events said many students took the contest quite seriously. ?They made drastic improvements in their day-to-day school lives,? she said.

?This effort saw many students asking for extra assignments, moving away from troublesome classmates and refraining from such things as talking in class or fighting with their peers in order to pursue this award.?

Eventually the list was narrowed down to 25 students who were then interviewed.

After the interview process BIBA representatives had the formidable task of choosing 11 students from the group. ?It was very difficult to cut 14 students during the interview process,? Ms Daniels said. ?All the schools represented themselves really well and they had all worked extremely hard to qualify for this award.?

The 11 who won the competition are: Dellwood Middle School?s Jamai Gomes and Chantel Seymour, Sandys Middle School?s Dantel McGowan and Kiara Richardson, Whitney Institute Middle School?s Detre Virgil, Kayla McConnie and Nahjay Spence, Spice Valley Middle School?s Denzel Johnston and Joliza Vanderpool, Joshua Powell of Mount Saint Agnes and Clearwater Middle School?s Tiara Smith.

The students will be treated to an all expense trip to California to look at universities they may one day attend. They will visit the University of Berkeley and Stanford University in San Francisco. In Los Angeles they will visit the University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University. The trip will take place from April 1 to 8.

Last week the students met everyone they will be travelling with for the first time.