The Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs (HHOMA) will host a virtual award ceremony to celebrate the student winners of the Project on Racism Contest and 37th Annual Poster Competition. The ceremony can be viewed Saturday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. on HHOMA’s Facebook page or on Monday, Jan. 18 at 9:30 p.m. from WV Public Broadcasting, the West Virginia Channel, directly following the broadcast of the annual Ecumenical Service.

 

Two Bridgeport students, one from the middle school and one from the high school, earned runner-up honors. Kate Blackwood, a seventh-grader at BMS, was awared second place in the film award category. Julian Skasik, a junor at BHS, took second place in the song award category.

 

One other county student was honored as Robert C. Byrd freshman Rian Hoalcraft took third place in the poster award category.
 
A program of the virtual ceremony can be accessed here.
 
“The young people in our state have creativity and passion,” said HHOMA Executive Director and Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission Chair Jill Upson. “We are honored to take part in recognizing them, what they have to say and what they have achieved.”
 
Essays | Music | Film

The Project on Racism Contest was presented by the Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission and the YWCA Wheeling. Entries were accepted for essays, music, and five-minute films and was open to any student from grades 1-12 attending public, private, parochial, or home school in West Virginia.
All entries must have focused on the following quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Award recipients for each category are listed below.
 

Essay Award Recipients
 
Grade K-5
1^st Place
Helen Miller
Ansted Elementary School, 5^th Grade
 
2^nd Place
Reid Boswell
Spring Mills Primary School, 2^nd Grade
 
3^rd Place
Paxton Matthews
Bethlehem Elementary School, 3^rd Grade
 
Grade 6-8
1^st Place
Audrey Ferguson
Warwood Middle School, 8^th Grade
 
2^nd Place
Nicholas Lilly
Shady Spring Middle School, 8^th Grade
 
3^rd Place
Julia Dunaway
Tridelphia Middle School, 7^th Grade
 
Grade 9-12
1^st Place
Devan Boyles
Parkersburg High School, 12^th Grade
 
2^nd Place
Alaina Fry
Hedgesville High School, 10^th Grade
 
3^rd Place
Jonathan Nguyen
Greenbrier East High School, 10^th Grade
 
Film Award Recipients
 
1^st Place (Group Entry)
Hunter Kelley, Everett Poole, Xander Plute, Nico Hoellwarth, Almira Ramazanova, Abolaji Oke, Nick Earls, Cole Grimm & Sam Gorence
Linsly School, 11^th & 12^th Grades
 
2^nd Place
Kate Blackwood
Bridgeport Middle School, 7^th Grade
 
3^rd Place
Kinsley Edgmon
West Liberty Elementary School, 5^th Grade
 
Song Award Recipients
 
1^st Place
Juanita Garcia
Linsly School, 11^th Grade
 
2^nd Place
Julian Skasik
Bridgeport High School, 11^th Grade
 
Poster Artwork

The Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission and the Beta Beta Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, presented the 37^th annual Poster Competition.

West Virginia students from grades K-12 could enter the poster competition. The art must have focused on the following quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
 
Poster award recipients are listed below.
Grade 9-12
1^st Place
Zoey Davidson
Lincoln County High School, 9^th Grade
 
2^nd Place
Dannah Pauley
Lincoln County High School, 9^th Grade
 
3^rd Place
Rian Hoalcraft
Robert C. Byrd High School, 9^th Grade
 
Grade 6-8
1^st Place (Group Entry)
Kinleigh Bell & Dakota Adkins
Hamlin PK-8 School, 6^th Grade
 
2^nd Place (Group Entry)
Aivah Spence & Laney Nelson
Hamlin PK-8 School, 6^th Grade
 
3^rd Place (Tie)
Landon Gillespie
Hamlin PK-8 School, 7^th Grade
 
Fallon Parker
Hamlin PK-8 School, 7^th Grade