Jaliaha Rodgers, a fifth-grade student at J.P. Starks Math, Science and Technology Vanguard in Oak Cliff, won second place in the 30th-annual Martin Luther King Oratory Competition Friday.
The competition, sponsored by Foley & Lardner LLP and held at Adamson High School, is open to fourth- and fifth-grade students at Dallas ISD.
All of the winners and finalists were given cash prizes that were doubled by an anonymous donor who called in during the competition.
Rodgers won a total of $1,000.
First-place winner Tristan Whitfield of Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center won $2,000, and he told the Dallas Morning News that he plans to spend some of it on summer camp. Watch his full speech below.
Third-place winner Arianna Garcia of L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary won $400.
The other finalists, listed below, each won $200:
Zihair Douglas, T.L. Marsalis Elementary,
Daniella Goffney-Mitchell, Thomas Tolbert Elementary,
Kiyan Harrison, Jack Lowe Sr. Elementary,
Diamond McKinney, Clara Oliver Elementary and
Chance Taylor, Charles Rice Learning Center.
