2021-2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Arts & Writing Contests
For students in Grades 5, 6, 7, & 8
Guidelines for Entries
Entries need to reflect how the student both understands and related to the words of Dr. King to their lives as well as to life in general.
Writing Category
Students may submit any form of writing, such as essay or short stories of no more than 500 words, or full-page poems.
Each entry will be judged on creativity, presentation, and how well the student communicates their understanding and interpretation of the comments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as related to them and the larger community today.
Prompts:
Grades 5 and 6: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Grades 7 and 8
“Now, when I say questioning the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated. …
And I must confess, my friends, that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. And there will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again, with tear-drenched eyes, have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
Lionel Washington Johnson Youth Awards
$100.00 and the Lionel Washington Johnson Youth plaque will be awarded to the 1st place winning student (Grades 5 & 6)
$100.00 and the Lionel Washington Johnson Youth plaque will be awarded to the 1st place winning student (Grades 7 & 8)
$50.00 and a Lionel Washington Johnson Youth Award certificate will be awarded to the 2nd place winning student (Grades 5 & 6)
$50.00 and a Lionel Washington Johnson Youth Award certificate will be awarded to the 2nd place winning student (Grades 7 & 8)
All entries become the property of the MLK Coalition until they are collected at the end of the Celebration.
TO ENTER
All entries must be received by December 20, 2021. Please send all entries to:
Maxine Mosley
or
Maxine Mosley
76 Sherburne Street
Manchester, NH 03104
Include your name, teacher’s name, school and school phone number. Also include your home address and phone number. Questions? Contact Maxine Mosley.
Awards will be presented at the Virtual 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration
Monday, January 17, 2022