{"id":124969,"date":"2026-01-15T23:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/124969\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T23:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:08:07","slug":"houston-students-honor-dr-king-in-30th-annual-oratory-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/124969\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston students honor Dr. King in 30th Annual Oratory Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston \u2013 One of the city\u2019s most meaningful traditions is marking a major milestone this year. The Foley MLK Jr. Oratory Competition<\/a> is celebrating 30 years of honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by uplifting some of Houston\u2019s youngest voices.<\/p>\n

Fourth- and fifth-grade students from across Houston ISD are stepping up to the microphone, delivering original speeches centered on hope, justice, and what they believe Dr. King\u2019s message would be for our world today. The students write and memorize speeches that are three to five minutes long, tackling big ideas with confidence, heart, and courage.<\/p>\n

Scott Ellis is the managing partner of Foley and Lardner\u2019s Houston office, is serving as event emcee for the first time this year. Ellis has been involved with the competition for many years and is now carrying the torch after the retirement of longtime chair and founder Claude Treece. While Treece has stepped back from leadership, he remains part of the event as a judge.<\/p>\n

Ellis shared why it is so important that this competition continues to live in Houston. He says watching students participate year after year is inspiring, not just for their families and schools, but for the entire community. Many past participants credit the competition with building confidence and shaping their future paths as leaders.<\/p>\n

One of this year\u2019s finalists is fourth grader Stormii Olezene from Blackshear Elementary School. Stormii says being part of the competition matters to her because Dr. King showed love, support, and the importance of standing up for what is right. Like many students, she admits speaking in front of people can be nerve-racking, but preparation is key. Stormii shared that she limits distractions, steps away from electronics, and practices her speech repeatedly to make sure it is fully memorized.<\/p>\n

Stormii also draws inspiration from her close friend Montoia Murray, the competition\u2019s first-ever back-to-back champion in 2024 and 2025. Murray has encouraged Stormii throughout the process, reminding her to believe in herself and represent her school with pride.<\/p>\n

During the segment, Stormii delivered a powerful excerpt from her speech, reminding viewers that unity makes us stronger and that Dr. King\u2019s message lives not just in speeches, but in all of us. Her words earned chills and tears in the studio and served as a reminder that leadership can start at any age.<\/p>\n

The competition takes place at the historic Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, a pillar in Houston\u2019s community and the first church established by formerly enslaved people. Antioch is celebrating its own milestone this year, marking 160 years, and has hosted the oratory competition since its early days. <\/p>\n

You can stream tomorrow\u2019s competition here<\/a> starting at 10:00 a.m.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston \u2013 One of the city\u2019s most meaningful traditions is marking a major milestone this year. The Foley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[163,56,58,57,51462,54020,69],"class_list":["post-124969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-education","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-mlk","tag-mlk-jr","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}