The Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest, which is supported by the John Templeton Foundation, will inspire students to discover and express the core values, principles and ideals that guide them. The Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest will offer Greenwich young people an opportunity to reflect and write about what matters most to them.

 The contest steering committee, which will coordinate the publicity, judging and awards activities, is made up of representatives from Greenwich schools and nonprofit, parent, civic and youth organizations.  The Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest is endorsed by the Greenwich Public Schools and will be overseen by Marie Jordan-Whitney, coordinator of the district’s language arts department. All Greenwich public, private and parochial schools and sixth grade students are invited to participate.

In addition to providing an opportunity for teachers to guide and publish authentic student writing, the Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest will provide the Greenwich community with an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the writing talents of its students through this dynamic program. The Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest will reach young people and honor and recognize them for taking a stand for what they believe in.

The contest runs from October 7^th to November 4^th with judging by a panel of educators, business, government and nonprofit leaders to be completed by December 9^th. An awards event is planned for early February. Winning essays will also be submitted by February 24^th to a statewide Laws of Life Essay contest sponsored by the nonprofit organization, School for Ethical Education of Milford, Conn, which develops character education and service learning programs for schools across the state. See www.ethicsed.org for additional information.

Since its inception in 1987 by international investment manager Sir John Templeton, Laws of Life essay contests have allowed millions of young people around the world, including over 15,000 Connecticut students, to openly express their personal values through the written word (view www.lawsoflife.org). In the United States, the Laws of Life Essay Contest is endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the National School Boards Association.

For additional information about the Greenwich Laws of Life Essay Contest or to volunteer on the steering committee, please contact Tom Jansen at (203) 869-8424 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or Lisa Ruggiero at (203) 869-4848 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .