Each year, students across the district show off their oratory skills in the annual Martin Luther King Oratory Competition at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Christ (500 Clay Street, 77002). This year’s theme, “What would Dr. King say in his campaign speech if he were running for president this year?” will be tackled by fourth- and fifth-graders from several HISD schools on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Now in its 20th year in Houston, the MLK Oratory competition, sponsored by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, encourages elementary school students to spread the work and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through self-written speeches that envision King’s message in today’s world. Students are judged based on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation, and memorization.