2013 MLK Writing Contest

2013 MLK Writing Contest
"New Roots Student Perspectives on Humanity, Injustice, Sustainability, and Character "

The MLK Campus-Wide Celebration Committee is pleased to announce that it will again sponsor an essay contest for students at New Roots Charter School, a public high school in Ithaca, NY, which focuses on sustainability education and social justice. Last year 10 students from New Roots submitted essays on a variety of issues that addressed the 2012 MLK Celebration theme, "A New Definition of Greatness."

This year essay writers will have the opportunity to address one of four different quotes, and its associated theme. The options are:

Humanity - "Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

Injustice - “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Sustainability - "We must rapidly begin to shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society.  When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materials, and militarism are incapable of being conquered

Character - “The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically…the most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals…we must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.”

An essay review committee will name one winner in the 9th and 10th grade division, and in the 11th and 12th grade division. One winner from each division will be announced later in the spring of 2013.

2012 MLK Writing Contest Winners

Jacob Gelber - 11-12 Grade Division

Irene Elizabeth Case - 9-10 Grade Division