FULLERTON : Dr. King’s Ideas Reap New Hopes

* Manuel Lopez, 13, wishes to be able to support his mother so she won’t have to work six days a week.

* Lindsey Finch, 12, hopes racism will die so people can live in harmony.

* Marsha Ghobadi, 13, wants to find a cure for cancer.

* Negin Barmarki, 12, wishes to live in a gang-free community.

Those are the dreams of some of the 79 Ladera Vista Junior High School students who participated in a speech contest Friday that commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Through their speeches, the students paid tribute to the late civil rights leader.

Topics in the 14th annual contest included finding solutions to the problem of homeless people, stopping violence, preventing breast cancer and suicide, and outlawing liquor sales.

“The worth of a person is not determined by whether they are fat or skinny, young or old, white or black or brown, or male or female but, rather, by their character,” said Katie Freeman, 13.

“This is what Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he said, ‘I have a dream that one day my children will be judged by the content of their character--not the color of their skin,’ ” she added. “That is my dream also.”

Bethany Miles, 13, delivered this message: “We are all the same because we are all of the human race. We would have a better and stronger country if we had no racism.”

Other students called King a hero and praised his leadership in the civil rights movement, in which he advocated nonviolent change.

“The words come from the students’ hearts,” Ladera Vista’s counselor Donnau Cooper said. “This contest is really a good avenue for them to get their feelings out and express hope.”

The contest participants were judged by three Fullerton School Board members, a writer, a parent and a community activist. Winners will be announced Tuesday and plaques and certificates will be handed out at an awards ceremony in the spring.