On January 8th, a group of Prince William County (PWC) high school students competed in the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Oratorical Contest at the C.D. Hilton Memorial Chapel. The Oratorical is a contest sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to promote speaking skills and celebrate Dr. King. The theme this year was “Small things in great ways.” 

Last year, on December 6th, three BDHS students competed to represent BDHS in the contest. Mrs. Horn, after seeing all three students, decided on Jarius Alexander, a Junior, and the BDHS candidate from last year as well.  

Mrs. Horn and Alexander then prepared for Alexander to present his speech to a panel of judges. The identity of the judges was a surprise to the speakers, but the judges are usually people known as gifted speakers and many are past winners.   

Alexander this year unfortunately did not place in the top three, but he still did an amazing job at the contest, and his school is very proud of him.  

The top three speakers, Zoree Jones, from Patriot High school, Alexander Kelly, from Stonewall High School, and Michael Pettus, from Freedom high school, presented on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 21st. 

Jones, the 2018 winner, received best before the audience, while Kelly received best before the judges.