By AFRO Staff

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Prince Williams County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (PWCAC-DST) held their 39th annual oratorical competition at Charles J. Colgan High School in Manassas, Va. Students from sixth to 12th grade competed for a cash prize, a Drum Major medal, certificate and other gifts. 

Participating schools included Graham Park Middle School, Rippon Middle School, Ronald Reagan Middle School, Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School, Manassas Park High School and Gar-Field High School.

There were three levels of the competition. Each school chose the student who would represent their school at the regional competition. Next, those students presented their speeches virtually to a panel of judges from the community on Jan 3 and 4.  The judges selected six students, three middle school students, and three high school students for the honor of speaking at the Jan 15 event.

The middle school students chosen were Ashley Gutierrez  Garcia from Graham Park, Rabab Raza from Rippon, and Ebenezer “Ben” Samuel from Ronald Reagan. The high-schoolers chosen were Alyssa Godfrey from Charles J. Colgan, Myles Lanier from Manassas Park, and Brooklyn Saunders from Gar-Field.

At the regional competition, Samuel and Lanier were awarded Best Before Judges. 

In the final competition, Best Before the Audience and Drum Major Awards were awarded to Raza and Lanier.

The judges also selected two students whose content or style impressed them the night of the regional competition for the Judges Choice/Honorable Mention category. Arisha Nawab of Saunders Midke and Gabriel Hamilton of Osbourn Park were awarded this honor also at the Jan. 15 event.

Hosted by Mayor Derrick Wood of Dumfries, Va., this year’s speech topic was: ‘If America is to remain a great nation, we must… .” 

“This year’s speech prompt is thought-provoking and demonstrates that you have challenged the next generation to delve deep within themselves and share their vision of what it will take for our nation to prosper in the years ahead. The student orators have always done an outstanding job in the past, and I have no doubt that this year will be no exception,” said Kevin D. Newman, superintendent of Manassas City Public Schools in a letter statement featured in the event’s program. 

Samuel is an eighth-grader who had never participated in any public speaking contest prior to this.

“To be honest, I was not expecting to get this far. I sat down in a day and wrote this whole speech. The third day I memorized it all and here I am. I just want to spread awareness, and I want to bring more appreciation to his words and honor him with my speech,” Samuel said.  

Several special guests were in attendance such as Sen. Tim Kaine and U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., who each gave a few words on the significance of the event and what it meant to them. Spanberger even announced that she’d entered the event as well as each orator into the Congressional Record.

The event also featured the MLK Community Choir, which was made up of children from grades K-12. 

Maziah Thomas, a member of the choir and an 11th-grader at Woodbridge High School graduating early this spring, said the group started rehearsing in October for the final performance.

“It’s very exciting because I am a Woodbridge Middle School alumni, so I’m able to be with my old choir director,” he said. “ It’s a good experience of getting service hours.”

The choir performed “Glory” by John Legend and Common, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” written by James Weldon Johnson and Stevie Wonder’s rendition of “Happy Birthday to You!”, and closed the program with “We Shall Overcome” by Joan Baez.

Pamela Shavers, a member of the PWCAC-DST chapter, assisted with the youth choir for this year’s program.

“It’s been great working with the kids. They’re really enthusiastic and excited about it. Being able to stand up and do something to remember Dr. King and all of his contributions—I’m hoping that will really touch the kids today as they participate in the program,” Shavers said.

Several other members of the PWCAC-DST chapter also assisted in running several aspects of the event.

For Nicole Gaskin, a longtime event attendee, she was able to experience the event as a volunteer and member of the sorority for the first time. Gaskin assisted with the oratorical event and will soon participate in another community service event later this month. 

“I always enjoy this experience. I’m just super excited that this time I get to be on this side of it. In the times we’re in right now, it helps to bring the community together to see that we can all come together and still focus on a common goal,” Gaskin said.

To learn more about this event and upcoming programs, visit pwcacdst.org.

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