MLK Jr. essay winners | Events

To wrap the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the MLK Jr. Family Outreach Center announced its essay winners.

The essay contest was an effort to get students to think about Dr. King's message of peace and kindness, and the prompt was “longer and more detailed for the older students,” according to Tammy Prudencio, community outreach coordinator for the center.

There were four different age groups - and an ELL section - with a little more than 100 students submitted essays.

“They were judged by how well they portrayed Dr. King's message and their knowledge about King's life, and how they implemented that into their own lives,” Prudencio said.

The winners and runners up:

Grades 3-4:

Abigail Moyer, of Jefferson Elementary

(Runner up) Amari Troutt, of Grant Elementary

Grades 5-6:

Gabriel Fensler, of Lincoln Heights Elementary

(Runner up) Hannah Humes, of Jefferson Elementary

Grades 7-8:

Shayla Ona, of Shaw Middle School

(Runner up) Taven Brus, of Shaw Middle School

Grades 9-12:

Kimiko Hirota, of Shadle Park High School