Elocution contest winners to speak at MLK Day

The winners of the elocution contest for the 2009 Martin Luther King Day activities will be performing their entries on the actual day of celebration on Monday, Jan. 19, at the American Memorial Park.

Dayanara Flores, an 8th grader at Hopwood Junior High School won the elocution contest in the 6th-8th grade category, while Bianca Blanco, an 11th grader at the Grace Christian Academy, won in the 9th-12th grade category.

Flores and Blanco will receive awards, cash prizes and gift items sponsored by IT&E, MegaByte and Hollywood Theaters.

Flores and Blanco will also deliver their winning speeches during the 4pm-6pm program Monday.

The essay winners will also receive similar awards and prizes.

Dylan Cabrera and Frances Rosemarie G. Santos, both 3rd graders at Kagman Elementary School, won in the 3rd-5th grades category. Eighth grader Yvonnalynn Salalila of Hopwood Jr. High School won in the 6th-8th grades category, while 10th grader Joseph Martin of Marianas High School won in the 9th-12th grade category.

The African-American Cultural Preservation Committee on Saipan released yesterday the list of winners in the “What Would Martin Say” essay and elocution contests.

The theme was intended for students to express their views about the victory of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, and its relevance to MLK Day.

MLK Day activities will start Monday at 1pm with a forum. After the forum, there will be a Mini-March through Garapan at 3pm.

The keynote speaker of the event will be MarshaRose Joyner, who was on Saipan as an 8-year-old girl during the closing years of World War II from 1946 to 1949. She will share her unique memories and perspectives of that period of time.

The AACPC expressed their appreciation to the Northern Mariana Council for the Humanities and American Memorial Park for their generous support.

The group also thanked the students from all the schools throughout the CNMI who participated and encourage all to attend the commemoration activities.

There will be no classes on that day since it is an official non-working holiday.

Aside from the commendation rites, other MLK Day activities include yesterday’s workshops in different schools on Saipan. The workshops will continue on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

There will also be an inaugural celebration dinner with the theme “Fulfilling the Dream” at Bud’s Bar at 6pm-8pm with a $15 cost.

In the morning, the 8th grade class of the Saipan Seventh-Day Adventist School will hold its 3rd Annual Freedom Run.

The five-kilometer run is a fundraising event for the 8th grade class trip as well as an event to pay tribute to the great civil rights leader.

The 3rd Annual Freedom Run will begin at 5:15pm at the Garapan Fishing Base and end at the Kilili Beach pavilion.

The registration fee is $10 and all finishers will be eligible for prizes at a drawing to be held after the race. Registration for the run will begin at 4:30pm.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed the bill enacting Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official CNMI holiday three years ago.