Quail named essay contest winner

(Photo submitted) Chayton Quail, of Spencer, has been named the high school-aged winner of a Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. Quail will be recognized Monday, which has been designated as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, during the 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. [Click to enlarge]

Spencer High School sophomore Chayton Quail, the son of Joe and Anne Quail of Spencer, has been named the first-place winner in a Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest.

The contest, which was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Human Rights, the Iowa Department of Civil Rights, the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and the Division on the Status of African Americans, challenged Iowa students to get involved and make a difference in their communities.

Divided into second through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade, and freshman through senior categories, the contest asked high school students to write an essay up to 1,000 words. The high school students were asked to answer one of two questions in their essays:

* Why do you believe in civic engagement and volunteerism?

* What would Dr. King say about diversity as it exists in our world, nation or state today?

Quail's "Speakers of Truth" essay, which was written as a modern day speech from the perspective of the Civil Rights movement leader, began by stating, "On this day, people of all races have gathered together. Many years ago, the segregated races of the great American culture could only dream of men and women of all color meeting together and living together with equivalence. The vast strides in the fight against hatred and discrimination are the product of people with common cause working together under the guidance of God.

"We now live together with more legal and social equality and in a more diverse nation, yet we still remain the victims of hatred and discrimination throughout our world.

"As a man of great love for all races, colors and cultures, I call to you to stand together now as we have before, and continue speaking out against the evils of prejudice by teaching our future, the many youth that are our children, through our stories of struggle for equality. We must convey to them the importance of these struggles. We must impress upon them to value the freedoms they now celebrate and have gained from the struggles of their ancestors. We must entice our children to cherish this freedom. We must teach them to empathize, feel compassion, for those who do not share in the same freedoms and thus suffer the injustices of discrimination. ... "

Quail and other contest winners will be recognized during a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration Monday morning at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. For his winning efforts, Quail will also be awarded $100 and a book.