MLK ESSAY CONTEST
Congratulations to our Essay Contest winners !
1st Place
by Charis Jeantet 9th Grade , Booker High School Subject Prompt # 2
The annual Martin Luther King , Jr ., Essay Contest is open to Sarasota County high school students .
For 2024 , students were allowed to choose one of the prompts below as the subjet of their essay .
SUBJECT PROMPT # 1 :
Dr . Martin Luther King Jr . famously said , “ We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools .” In light of this statement , discuss the role of empathy , understanding , and dialogue in fostering unity within communities . How can young people contribute to building bridges across cultural , racial , and socioeconomic divides , inspired by MLK ’ s teachings ? Provide specific examples or initiatives that illustrate effective community building in today ’ s society .
SUBJECT PROMPT # 2 :
Dr . Martin Luther King Jr . famously stated , “ The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically .” Reflecting on this statement , explore how education can foster critical thinking skills that are crucial for addressing contemporary social issues such as racial inequality , economic disparity , and environmental degradation . How can MLK ’ s emphasis on critical thinking and moral reasoning guide students in navigating complex societal challenges and advocating for meaningful change ? Discuss specific initiatives or educational programs that exemplify MLK ’ s principles of education and empowerment .
Morehouse College features the Martin Luther King Jr . Legacy Scholars Program . NYU hosts the Martin Luther King Jr . Scholars Program . While Dr . King has , deservedly , had a significant and profound impact in many areas of American society , his influence is particularly strong in education and educational rights . He once famously stated , “ The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically .” This quote guides the content we study in schools and challenges us to apply critical thinking and moral reasoning to the great questions facing the world today .
Education shapes our mindset and what we believe about the things of the world . What we are presented with in school heavily relies on two main things : the teacher and the textbook . Does the teacher invite curiosity and discussion or does the teacher skim over heavy topics ? What historical circumstances does a textbook emphasize ( or not )? Dr . King ’ s quote is inviting educators to encourage intensive thinking and for students to dive into sensitive and weighty issues with intentional curiosity . For example , when I was in seventh grade , my teacher taught us the basic information about slavery but didn ’ t teach us how slavery affected the country . Slavery was one of the great evils in our nation ’ s history . If we don ’ t engage this issue with intensive thinking , we will not understand its present and ongoing impact on racial relations .
Education at its best equips students to engage not only slavery but other issues , such as racial inequality , economic disparity , and environmental degradation , all of which are so prevalent in the day-today lives of an American citizen . One hurdle to engaging these topics is our ability to think critically with a keen attention to moral reasoning . In short , education must prepare students to evaluate information well . As Dr . King said , “ Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence , to discern the true from the false , the real from the unreal and the fact from the fiction .” This has never been more important than now , in a world of fake news , AI generated content , such heavy social media presence , and hyper polarization . This quote in effect will enable us to see past just what we are being told or what we are reading but differentiate between what is real and what is fabricated .
When we take a deep dive into what we are seeing or reading and think critically about it , we open our eyes to the ability to get insight we might ’ ve missed and to develop moral solutions that honor the dignity of all people , no matter their race or economic background . Here we are , 56 years after the death of Martin Luther King Jr . and his influence still ripples through many aspects of American life . His call to think intensively , critically , and morally provides a clear path for education and a firm foundation to empower today ’ s students to solve the problems of tomorrow . May we heed his call . �
42 | THE DOCKET - FEBRUARY 2025