Eighth-grade student Leigh Aguiran (center) receives Gov. David Ige’s certificate as Maui County 2022 grand prize winner of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest. The ceremony took place at Maui Waena Intermediate school. Presenting the award is Baldwin-Kekaulike-Maui Complex Area Superintendent Jamie Yap (far right), and Contest Director Melinda Gohn. — Photo courtesy of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest

Maui Waena Intermediate School eighth-grader Leigh Aguiran has received the Maui County grand prize in the 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Awards.

Aguiran’s poem, “Peace Sign,” was selected from a field of more than 540 entries.

The annual competition is sponsored by the Maui-based International Peace Poem Project.

Aguiran received a commemorative painting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a grand prize certificate from Gov. David Ige.

Fourteen Maui County students participated as Golden Circle winners and also received certificates from Ige.

For more information, visit peacepoem.org.