The Better Business Bureau that serves all of Southeast Texas proudly held its 2^nd Annual LAWS OF LIFE Essay Program Banquet on Tuesday April 16. Over 2,000 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students throughout Southeast Texas submitted essays for the LAWS OF LIFE initiative.  Ten student finalists were honored, along with their teachers and school campuses at the banquet, which was held at the Holiday Inn & Suites Beaumont Plaza.

         First place winner, out of over 2,000 students, was Bassam Syed of Marshall Middle School.  The Law of Life Bassam wrote about was Respect.  Second place winner was Abigail LaCouture of Vidor Junior High.  Abigail wrote her essay about Forgiveness.  Third place winner, Kayla Campbell, is from Edward Johnson Memorial Silsbee Middle School.  Kayla chose Compassion as her essay topic.  Top essay winners per grade are Nicholas Lewis, Vidor Middle School – 6^th grade category, Avery Jagoe, Vincent Middle School – 7^th grade category, and Cole Coulter, Orangefield Junior High – 8^th grade category.  Each of these students were asked to share their essays with the audience.  Superior essay winners were Shelby Euton – Port Neches Middle School, Emily Jones – Marshall Middle School, Colton Morgan – Legacy Christian Academy, and Sable Reynolds – Orangefield Junior High.  Along with these students, their teachers and school campuses were also honored as outstanding individuals and schools who promote and exemplify character development and ethics.

LAWS OF LIFE is an ethics-based essay initiative that encourages junior high and middle school students to reflect and write about their “laws of life” or ideals by which they strive to live their lives. Students are prompted to examine their core values, and through the program, are given tools to help them understand and develop positive character ethics. This experience helps teachers and parents better understand their students and the things that they are struggling with.  LAWS OF LIFE is part of the BBB’s future workforce programming initiative TOGGLE 2.0 (Teaching Our Generations Great Leadership Ethics), which provides every middle school, junior high and high school student in Southeast Texas the opportunity to engage in classroom discussion about ethics, character and core values. 

         Generous program sponsors include Conn’s, DuPont Goodrich Federal Credit Union, Nissan of Silsbee, Previty Clinic for Surgical Care – Dr. and Mrs. Garrett Peel, American Valve & Hydrant and Lamar Advertising.

         Honorable John Stevens, Criminal District Court Jefferson County, was the featured keynote speaker.  Educational guest speaker was Michelle Reynolds, Team Leader and English Department Head at Vidor Middle School. For more information about the Laws of Life Program please contact Michelle Brewer at (409) 835-5951 x102 or email michellebrewer@bbbsetexas.org.