Great Job!!! MLK Oratory winner: Gerra Gistand

Gerra Gistand of MacGregor elementary won first place during the 13th Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory. Finalists gave original five-minute speeches on the topic: If Dr. King were alive today, what do you think he would say about current events? What a phenomenal performance!!!!

Gerra, who was named the 2009 winner of the annual contest in Houston on January 16, also said she thought the slain civil rights leader would “remind us of our responsibility to ourselves.”

“Don’t be a dropout,” she emphasized, “be a graduate! Don’t be a criminal looking for a lawyer; you be that lawyer! Don’t be a drug dealer; be a doctor or a pharmacist!”

Gerra competed against 10 other HISD students to win a $1,000 savings bond and a plaque for delivering the five-minute speech.