Contributed photo Richmond County School Superintendent George Norris stands with overall poster winner LaQawan Fisher (left) and overall essay winner Maggi Chambers (right). The two students were recognized during Monday's MLK Holiday Luncheon. LaQawan’s winning poster art is also pictured.

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To honor the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, students from around the county showed off their creativity in the annual poster and essay contest organized by the MLK Jr. Steering Committee.

To participate in the county-wide contest, students from all grades in Richmond County were encouraged to submit either an essay or artistic poster centered on a specific theme: “The Dream…Then and Now.” The posters were put on display from Jan. 15 until Jan. 22 at the Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham for community members to observe.

“We had really good participation and a lot of really good high quality entries,” said Superintendent George Norris.

This year, the overall contest winner of the essay category was Maggi Chambers, an eighth grader at Ellerbe Middle School. Eighth grader Bryson Hudson of Ellerbe Middle School received second place in the essay contest, and Jayda Smith, a third grader at Fairview Heights took third place.

Angeline David, the chairwoman for the MLK Jr. Steering Committee, said that she is proud of the students for taking the time to participate in the contest.

“They did a great job,” David said.

Senior LaQawan Fisher of Richmond Senior High School was chosen as the overall winner of the poster category of the contest. Fourth grader, Phoenix Darien of Fairview Heights Elementary won second place, sixth grader Preston Coker of Rohanen Middle School won third place, and fifth grader Will Chappell of Fairview Heights, won fourth place in the poster category.

Allexis Swiney, a fifth grader at Fairview Heights, and Latrina Miller, an eight grader at Rohanen Middle School, were selected as Honorable Mentions in the poster category.

Both Chambers and Fisher were invited to a special MLK Holiday Luncheon on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Sidney Grove Church of Deliverance Agape Center in Ellerbe, where Chambers got the chance to read her essay to a crowd of over 100 guests. The other talented contest winners were also recognized during the Youth Extravaganza event.

The Youth Extravaganza event was a talent show where nine groups came and showcased their talent. David said the talent included a modeling show, a band performance by Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, and a song performed by two teenagers from Anson High School.

“We congratulate the winners and we feel like it was a good learning experience for our children,” Norris said.

— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.