RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion invites high school juniors and seniors to participate in an essay writing contest focused on the achievements of outstanding African Americans as part of Dominion's 2012 "Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership" series.

The annual contest is open to students in Dominion's service areas in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.  Students will research and write a 350-word essay about the achievements of state and national leaders who have been honored during the series' 21-year history.

Strong Men & Women highlights the accomplishments of selected African-American role models and tells their stories in an educational series distributed in February during Black History Month. Program information, contest guidelines, entry form and a list of individuals being honored this year are available at Dominion's website, www.dom.com, keyword: strong. Teachers are encouraged to use the lesson plans posted on the website.

Each of the four winners will receive a notebook computer and their schools will receive a $1,000 cash award. Entries must be submitted online by Nov. 7. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Richmond on Jan. 19, 2012.

More than 20,000 sets of learning materials are sent to schools and libraries in northeastern North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28,200 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com. 

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SOURCE Dominion