The eight winners in the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest
receive accolades on Saturday, in front of the Nakaoka Community
Center. Winners are 1st-place, from left, Tlali Galindo (5th grade, Amestoy
Elementary) and Ciara Jackson (8th grade, Maria Regina); 3rd-place
winners, Isaac Poblanco (8th grade, Peary Middle School) and Lamar
Brooks (4th grade, Avalon Gardens Elementary); and 2nd-place winners,
Antonio Curiel (5th grade, Avalon Gardens) and Han Gia Tran (6th
grade, 156th Street School). Absent are Alexander Cardenas, 1st-place
(11th grade, Gardena High) and 2nd-place Maria Phamilton (10th
grade, GHS). Adults pictured are Rosie Martinez, administrator - LAUSD,
Gardena Community of Schools, Roberta Lynch, Shirley McCarty, MLK
Cultural Committee Chair Paulette Francis, Michael Romero, Local Dist.
South Superintendent, LaVerne Knight, Freddie Williams, Gerri Buffett,
Kassandra Jasper and Avalon Gardens Principal Michael Pile. Additional
photos on pages 6, 7 and 12.
