The results are in for 2018’s Martin Luther King Jr. contest.

This year, South had three students place. The first and second place winners in the visual arts category were Katie Jones, senior, and Malea McIntosh, sophomore. Kali Ray, senior, was awarded second in multi-media. No essays placed.

The best of show winner this year was Mohamed Farid, an eighth grader from Chisholm Trail. He created a multi-media piece.

Winners are awarded a cash prize. First place is awarded $300, second $200, and third place wins $100.

Ray’s multimedia piece took her three hours to film on top of countless hours of editing and rendering. Major sections were filmed using stop motion. According to Ray, she “animated some pieces. Then [she] filmed other things to go with it.” This is not the first time her work has been on show, as she has placed five times in this contest. Ray wanted to portray the view King explained in his speech and that she thinks “we’re not at that view yet, but we will be.”

In its 18th year, the contest received over 4,300 entries in total from Olathe middle and high school students, all working to share their own interpretation of King’s “A View from the Mountaintop” speech.

In King’s speech, he lays out his vision for a world with equality, kindness, and peace. This inspired many students to speak of their own experiences with hate and how students can change the world.

Students created visual art and multi-media presentations, and they wrote essays to promote a society free of bullying and discrimination. Though there were over 100 entries from South alone, schools can only send nine entries to the district office, three in each category. To narrow down the selection, South’s staff voted on what they thought was the best presentation.

According to Candy Birch, school administrator, “the most inspiring night is the judging night.” Judging night is a night when all of the entries from around 15 schools are put on display, and students present their pieces to the judges along with a speech on their piece’s message. Judges then pick the three top in each category and the best of show.

Pictures and more information are available on the Olathe school district’s website.