Eight students from Carpinteria High School have been recognized in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Santa Barbara (MLKSB) Poetry and Essay Contest. The students are Evelyn Calkins, Kate Ackerman, Delilah M. Santizo, Kacy Kramer, Paola Torres-Garcia, Richard Ramirez, Alex De Leon, and Alexa Ceja.
Three of these students secured top honors in the poetry category for ages 13 to 18. Evelyn Calkins took first place, Kate Ackerman earned second, and Delilah M. Santizo claimed third.
Many of the award winners are current or former students of Christine Gilbert, a long-time Carpinteria High School teacher. Gilbert has been encouraging her students to enter the contest for over a decade.
“I enjoy assignments where students write for a purpose and think about how to improve their communities,” Gilbert said in an interview with CVN in February 2024. “I encourage them to reflect on American heroes, especially Martin Luther King Jr., and emphasize that his work is ongoing.”
In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara will host several events, including a reading of the winning poems and essays on Friday, Jan. 17. The reading will follow the Congregation B’nai B’rith service, held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, located at 909 North La Cumbre Road, Santa Barbara.
