In memory of Paducah teacher and Murray State alumna Fredricka Hargrove, the annual Fredricka Hargrove-MLK Jr. Essay and Poster Contest is open to all K through 12 students in Paducah and McCracken County. The contest serves as a chance for students and teachers to reflect on and celebrate the life, work, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The prompts for this year's essay focused on the efficacy of nonviolent resistance as a means to create social change (middle school students) and how to make school a place where everyone feels loved, respected, and valued (elementary school students). Winners were recognized at a special celebration on Sunday, January 14, at 2 pm in the Lone Oak Middle School Cafeteria.
Part of an ongoing partnership, WKMS works with the Paducah-McCracken County NAACP to showcase the contest winners and to record students reading their first-place essays. Here are this year's winners:
Poster Contest:
K-3rd Grade
• 1st Place: Maxx Perez (McNabb Elementary) Pictured above.
• 2nd Place: Ahy'Monie Wilson (McNabb Elementary)
• 3rd Place: Milton Shelley (McNabb Elementary)
Essay Contest:
4th-5th Grade
• 1st Place: Isabelle AsBridge (Clark Elementary)
• 2nd Place: Macie Crass (Lone Oak Intermediate)
• 3rd Place: Blaklee Dowd (Lone Oak Intermediate)
Listen to Isabelle Asbridge read her essay, "Kindness Matters," below.
6th Grade
• 1st Place: Kaileigh Hall (Paducah Middle)
• 2nd Place: Scarlett Gearhart (Paducah Middle)
• 3rd Place: Emory Masthay (Paducah Middle)
Listen to Kaileigh Hall read her essay, "Nonviolent Resistance," below.
7th Grade
• 1st Place: McKenzie Davis (Reidland Middle)
• 2nd Place: Chloe Holt (Lone Oak Middle)
• 3rd Place: Trinity Weigel (Reidland Middle)
Listen to McKenzie Davis read her essay, "Non-Violence Resistance: The Peacemaker," below.
8th Grade
• 1st Place: Emma-Kate Pendergrass (Heath Middle)
• 2nd Place: Charlotte LeNeave (Paducah Middle)
• 3rd Place: Jonah Hargrove (Paducah Middle)
Listen to Emma-Kate Pendergrass read her essay, "Nonviolence Has and Can Change the World," below.
Written copies of the winning essays are available upon request. E-mail dlynn2@murraystate.edu to request a transcript.
