The celebration in the Ohio Valley of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King through this past weekend and into Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday was inspiring, especially in the way that so many celebrations invited our community’s youth to participate.

The Belmont County NAACP honored middle schoolers within its county at a Saturday luncheon, choosing students who their teachers and counselors believed best exemplified the leadership qualities King espoused.

In Ohio County on Monday, students were honored for their winning work in West Virginia’s Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission’s Celebration of Unity. The students were celebrated for their essays and films inspired by King’s words.

And Wheeling Country Day School students spent Monday inspired by King’s deeds and call to service. While younger students stayed on the main campus completing service projects for organizations like The House of the Carpenter and the Ohio County Animal Shelter, fifth through eighth graders were out in the community at places like The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling and Elmhurst, House of Friendship, assisting how they could.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” WCDS teacher Joe Jividen said, “you have agency in your community and you should use it.”

The days leading to and the day of Martin Luther King Jr. Day are a wonderful time to show the youth of the Ohio Valley the importance of being of service to the greater community, both by sending them into the community to assist and by honoring them for the good work they have done.

King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” It is great to see those celebrating King’s legacy these past few days made this part of his legacy a focus for our children.