Fifth graders from Watkins Elementary School walked in Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps at the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday, and recited his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
The MLK Day event is a National Park Service tradition. Since 2005, fifth graders — usually from the Capitol Hill elementary school — have delivered King’s speech from the 1963 March on Washington.
“It was really remarkable because we were saying the words that Martin Luther King said,” Journee, a fifth grader at Watkins, said.
Her line from the speech was, “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
National Park Service ranger and park service education specialist Jen Epstein started the tradition at the request of a teacher.
“To hear the big words from young voices is really, really special and powerful,” Epstein said. “They did a great job this year, as they always do. … And it sounds like they really learned a lot about Dr. King and his message.”
The fifth graders’ audience included parents and younger Watkins students.
“It was beautiful,” parent Ayanna Howard said.
Her son, Pervis McLauchlin III, was one of the speakers.
“It was so impactful. It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago that the speech actually happened, but the words still resonate today,” Howard said.
The students usually recite the speech from the spot on the Lincoln Memorial where King stood in 1963, but the memorial’s steps were too icy this year. After the event, the students walked up to see it and take in the view.