Martin Luther King Junior (MLK) inspired millions all over the world to spread love and treat others equally with respect.

Now to celebrate and remember this message, the Olathe School District has partnered with the city of Olathe along with many other schools, in a MLK contest every year. This year the theme was “Love Illuminates Life,” words from MLK’s poem “Strength to Love.”

Students can enter the contest in three different categories: writing, visual art, and multi-media. All of the judges are looking for theme, originality, craftsmanship, creativity and presentation.

School written finalist, Kali Ray, sophomore, said, “I mirrored the ideals in the quote with those in my poem, but with my own experiences as well as real world examples.”

There were four finalists from Olathe South including Katie Jones, sophomore, for visual art; Natalie Boos, senior, for multi-media; Cayla Jones, sophomore, for multi-media; and Ray, for writing.

Kali Ray won Best of Show and first place for writing, Katie Jones won second place in visual arts, Natalie Boos won first place for multi-media, along with Cayla Jones in third place.

On Jan. 11, there was a public viewing as well as judging for all school finalists, and on Jan. 17, a celebration and program for MLK will be hosted for the winners from 3-5 p.m.

Candy Birch, assistant principal, said, “The presentation is a really big deal and is very important. All of the students did a great job presenting.”

For first place, the high school winner receives $300, second place is awarded $200, and third place gets $100. The most valuable prize for the contest is Best of Show, a $500 reward.

Birch said, “It’s great to have four finalists from Olathe South because it shows how our students understand and know how important the message from Martin Luther King is and how they can take that message and present it in a different way.”