The City of Leander and Leander ISD are partnering to host our annual essay contest to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme for Leander’s 2024 MLK Day March and Celebration is Action Starts with Me. 

MLK and the civil rights movement prove the profound impact we can have when ordinary people take extraordinary action. All LISD students are invited to share how they are taking action or will take action to improve their community by submitting a written essay or recorded video by Dec. 31.

Contest Details

Any Leander ISD student can participate in the essay and video content. Submissions can be sent electronically to [email protected] with the attached essay and/or video. If the video is too large to attach, save it in a Google Drive or post it to YouTube and give access to [email protected]. 

The contest committee will review each submission and award prizes for the top submissions.

High School and Middle School Prompt

Through his speeches, writings, and teaching, Dr. King challenged each one of us to make a difference. One of his most popular quotes is “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” 

Action starts with Me. Share how you can apply the theme to your life by considering the following questions:

  • What actions are you currently taking to improve your community? 
  • How are you planning to use college and/or career to improve the lives of others?

Submission Requirements

  • High School Students: One essay per student. Essays must be original, typed, double-spaced, and should not exceed 1,000 words. 
  • Middle School Students: One essay per student. Essays must be original, typed, double-spaced, and should not exceed 500 words.
  • The cover sheet must contain the student’s name, school, grade level, home/cellular phone number, and email address (do not include this information in the body of the essay).
  • Essays will be judged based on organization, content, voice, creativity, and grammatical structure.
  • Video entries can be submitted by an individual or group. Students are allowed to submit a video in addition to an essay. The video must be between 60–120 seconds. Please include the student’s name, school, grade level, home/cellular phone number, and email address in the credits and/or the body of the email.

Elementary School Prompt

Please research Dr. King and the civil rights movement (examples could include reading a book or article, watching a video, or listening to a podcast) and share what you learned in your paper considering the following questions:

  • What small and big actions can you take to improve your communities?
  • How will you go out and make the world a better place?

Submission Requirements

  • Elementary School Students: One written submission per student. Students must submit a writing sample, either typed or handwritten, not to exceed one side of one page. Writing samples can include illustrations, drawings, or accompanying original artwork. 
  • The cover sheet must contain the student’s name, school, grade level, home/cellular phone number, and email address (do not include this information in the body of the essay).
  • Video entries can be submitted by an individual or group. Students are allowed to submit a video in addition to an essay. The video must be between 60–120 seconds. Please include the student’s name, school, grade level, home/cellular phone number, and email address in the credits and/or the body of the email.