Martin Luther King essay, video winners announced

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Office of Education has announced the winners for the state's 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay and video contest.

The contest is open to all seventh- through 12th-grade students in the state. There were 645 essay entries and 12 video entries.

The essay winners by grade are: seventh grade, Jay Orten, Juab Junior High School, also the overall essay prize winner for junior high students; eighth grade, Pacian Garrett, Kearns Junior High School; ninth grade, M. Shelem Hatch, Gunnison Valley High School; 10th grade, Nicole Chang, Park City High School; 11th grade, Jordyn Spiller, Alpine Academy in Erda; 12th grade, McKay Holbrook, Woods Cross High School, also the overall essay prize winner for high school students.

Video winners by grade are: seventh grade, Kurt Memmott from Juab Junior High; eighth grade, Helena Rodriguez from Clayton Middle School, also the overall winner for junior high; ninth grade, Tyce Peterson from Syracuse Arts Academy; 10th grade, Taylor Dillon, Carolyn Hammon, Daisy Mele and Matthew Roberts from Woods Cross High School; 12th grade, Mikinley Weaver and Valerie Morgan from Woods Cross High School, also the overall high school video winners; 12th grade, Bradan Jones, Kaitland Garner, Veronica Hanna, and Kaleb Christensen from Woods Cross High School.

The winners were chosen by a committee from the Utah State Office of Education. Each winning entry was given a $50 cash prize, a $50 gift card from Smith's Food and Drug, and a Martin Luther King Jr. pin from the Davis School District.

Overall junior and senior high winners received an additional $50 cash award and a full scholarship to Camp Anytown from the Inclusion Center.