Dallas fourth grader Blen Teklu acknowledges that hate, hurt and division exist in the world. Even during tough times, she proclaimed, people must solve “problems with love, not hate.”
The Preston Hollow Elementary student performed an electrifying speech inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre Like the legendary orator, she believes in the power of words, leading her to include a poem she penned.
“I will dream and I will try to lift my voice and reach the sky. With hope and love, I will carry on, because the dream lives on and on,” she said, standing at the center of a stage illuminated by violet lights.
A banner with the face of the civil rights trailblazer hung behind Blen’s small frame. The microphone echoed her words across the auditorium to an audience made up of Dallas ISD students, teachers and parents.
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Blen won first place in the 34th annual MLK Jr. Oratory Competition. Upon realizing she won, she gasped and her hand flew over mouth. She wiped away tears, noting afterward that she felt even happier than on her birthday.
Before the judges (right) and fellow contestants, Blen Teklu delivers her speech during the 34th annual MLK Jr. Oratory Competition in downtown Dallas on January 16, 2026. Eight fourth and fifth grade students from Dallas ISD competed for the top honor at the annual contest. Blen won the competition.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
The question posed to students this year was: “As a student of Dr. King’s life, what message of hope do you think he would have for the world today?” In Blen’s interpretation, she pronounced that hope is always present and encouraged people to speak up even when it’s not easy.
“[King would] tell us, ‘Don’t lose hope.’ Keep dreaming, keep working, keep loving. The world can still be better because of you,” she said at the conclusion of her speech — to an eruption of cheers from the audience.
Before her speech reached the ears of this crowd, Blen’s mirror heard it first. She practiced everyday after coming home from school, staring into her reflection, she said.
The competition has roots in Dallas, starting off as a small gathering in a lunch room with a handful of students. Since its inception in 1993, the competition has expanded to Houston and Chicago.
While the competition has become a “bigger production,” its core mission has never changed: an opportunity to highlight the talent of Dallas ISD students, said Michael Newman, an attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP, who helps steer the competition.
“What I have seen over these last 30 years of watching the competition is the students will astound you,” he said. “You will be inspired. You will be astounded and you will want to come back year after year.”
Initial competitions were held in the fall and semifinals in December, which narrows down the competitors to the eight finalists who performed Friday.
Cameron Kinder, a fourth grader at Clara Oliver Elementary School, won second place. Kennedy King, a fifth grader at Solar Preparatory School for Girls, won third place. The other finalists were: Maricruz Cano, Austin Goode, Marlie Jenkins, Audrey Soto and Destiny Williams.
Judges (from left) Rolando Blackman, Dalton Sherman, Ty Montgomery and DeMarcus Ware listen to Kennedy King, a 5th Grade Solar Preparatory School for Girls, compete in the 34th Annual MLK Jr. Oratory Competition. King came in third.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
All finalists received a laptop, a plaque and gift bag with goodies, Newman said. The first place winner was set to receive $1,000, second place to receive $500, third place to receive $300. That was until an anonymous donor matched the prize money, doubling the award, Newman announced during the award ceremony.
Destiny Williams, a 5th grader from Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center, delivers her speech during the 34th Annual MLK Jr. Oratory Competition. Eight fourth- and fifth-grade students from Dallas ISD competed for the top honor at the annual contest.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Dalton Sherman, the 2008 competition winner, sat on the judging panel this year. As an elementary student, he compared being a drum major to being a visionary in his winning speech.
Sherman, who attended Charles Rice Learning Center then, hopes the students will find the same joy in public speaking, as he did.
“This is just an incredible full-circle moment for me. I’m so thankful to be a part of the journey of these young men and women,” he said.
As for Blen? The aspiring pediatrician hopes to write more poems. After the competition, she took plenty of photos with her family in front of the MLK banner.
“Dr. King was a good person, and I wanted to be like him too,” she said.
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