HOUSTON – Houston Independent School District students performed speeches Friday at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Competition.
Twelve students competed in the final round.
For more than 20 years, fourth- and fifth-graders from two dozen HISD schools have competed in the contest. They were challenged to write and present a short original speech on a subject related to King. The topic this year was, "What is your dream for today's world?"
Students were judged on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation and memorization.
The first-place winner received $1,000, second-place prize was $500 and third-place prize was $300. Other finalists received $100.
In the end, last year's champion, Nhedrick Jabier of Crespo Elementary took third place, Caleb Kiteka of Windsor Village Vaguard Magnet too second and Tchanori Kone of Gregory-Lincoln Education Center is the 2018 MLK Oratory Competition winner.
The competition was held at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Christ.
This year’s finalists were:
Jernee Craig - Wainwright Elementary School
Kimahni Dew - Burrus Elementary School
Jaida Gatlin - Foster Elementary School
Natalie Greene - MacGregor Elementary School
Armani Holmes - Thompson Elementary School
Nhedrick Jabier - Crespo Elementary School
Nyla Johnson - Lockhart Elementary School
Maryam Khan - Sutton Elementary School
Caleb Kiteka - Windsor Village Elementary School
Tchanori Kone - Gregory-Lincoln Elementary School
Shawn Ward - Pleasantville Elementary School
Summer Whitaker - Cornelius Elementary School