Local youth celebrate MLK Day
Trending
WHEELING -- Young voices ruminating on Martin Luther King Jr.'s words filled Laughlin Memorial Chapel as winners of the Annual Project on Racism Contest read their pieces.
At the awards breakfast for the competition held Monday, local winners were recognized by YWCA Cultural Diversity & Community Outreach Director Ron Scott Jr. Students were awarded for their interpretation in writing, film or song of King's quote, "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Though the winners had already been recognized on Sunday at the Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission Awards Luncheon in Charleston, Scott wanted to hold a local ceremony to celebrate Wheeling students who took King's words to heart.
"Not everybody can make it to Charleston, and I want the folks that put in the effort and made something creative here to feel seen," Scott said. "We also want this to be a little pat on the back for them."
Bethlehem Elementary School swept the kindergarten through fifth-grade category in the essay competition. In third place was fifth-grader Spencer Benedict, second place was fourth-grader Baleigh Anderson and first place went to fifth-grader Brantley Myers.
Ohio County Schools also dominated in the sixth through eighth-grade category in the essay competition. In third place was Bridge Street Middle School eighth-grader Jaxson Updegraff, second place was Triadelphia Middle School seventh-grader Miles Rockey and first place went to Triadelphia Middle School seventh-grader Leah Lief.
In her essay, Lief shared how she strove to educate her classmates about her faith in a positive way, since she is the only Jewish person in her class. By inviting her classmates to her bat mitzvah, Lief wanted to give them a positive experience with "something different than what they were used to."
Scott explained that what set Lief and the other winners apart was their out-of-the-box interpretations of the quote.
Students from Wheeling Central Catholic High School took home the trophy in the ninth through 12th-grade category for film submissions. While introducing the winning group, Scott noted that he looks forward to what Video Production and Digital Media teacher Jay Morris and his students bring to the table every year.
To be able to announce so many local students as winners in a statewide competition was something Scott "absolutely loved." He noted that this means kids were "really paying attention" to King's words.
"I love to see my hometown doing well," Scott added.
Further education on King's teachings continued at Laughlin Chapel during a special children's program open to ages 5-12.
To begin that event, the Rev. Yvette Taylor, pastor of Wayman AME Church, explained the segregation King experienced to her young audience through the story of the activist being forbidden from playing with a white friend by the child's father.
The children were then asked the question: "What difference can they make with their own two hands?" One child explained they could make friends with classmates, while another said they could hold hands with others.
Laughlin Chapel Program Coordinator Judy Saunders wants to keep "the innocence" found in the children's responses through the program.
"They're young, so at this age they don't really know a lot about the differences in people," noted Saunders. "That means we can start teaching them now that it doesn't matter if you are Black or white and that we can work together to make the world a better place."