Woodbridge Students to Compete in MLK, Jr. Oratorical Contest

From PWCS: 

Prince William County students will compete in the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Oratorical Contest today at C.D. Hylton Memorial Chapel, 14640 Potomac Mills Road, Woodbridge. The event will begin at 11 a.m. 

Twenty-eight student orators (17 middle school and 11 high school students) will represent schools in Prince William, Manassas City, and Manassas Park. These students competed on Jan. 5 for the honor to speak before the audience on Jan. 16.

Five students from Prince William County were chosen to speak:

• Jacob Gonzalez,
• Jonathan Adrien, Porter School
• Nicolas Smith,
• Sadiyah Faruk,
• Seth Opoku-Yeboah,
• is an additional high school speaker.

 An additional middle school student and one high school student will receive the Judge’s Choice Award and will be announced at the program.   A writing contest was also held for fourth and fifth graders and the winners of that contest also will be honored and announced at the program. This year’s theme is “The Power and Purpose of Education.” The theme was taken from Dr. King’s essay he wrote as a student at Morehouse College in 1947. Also featured in the program is the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir.  

The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration is sponsored by the Prince William County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Delta Educational and Public Service Foundation. The event is supported by a host of organizations, including The Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation, Manassas City Public Schools and its Foundation, Manassas Park City Public Schools and its Foundation, Prince William County Public Schools, and many churches and private donors. More than 1500 people are expected to attend, making the event one of the largest King Day celebrations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Visit www.pwcacdst.org for more information.