Seventh grade student Veronna Jhen M. Santiago from Maui Waena Intermediate School won an original painting by renowned pop artist Davo as the grand prize winner in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poem Awards. Santiago also received congratulatory certificates from Gov. Josh Green and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen. Pictured in the photograph are MC host/poet Orron Kenyatta, Santiago, Project Director Melinda Gohn, and Gov. Josh Green’s Maui representative Leon Bolosan. Photo courtesy of International Peace Poem Project.

Seventh grade student Veronna Jhen M. Santiago from Maui Waena Intermediate School has been awarded the Maui County grand prize in the 27th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Awards.

Her poem was selected out of more than 520 entries from Maui public and private schools.

“We’re happy to receive work of this caliber from this young Maui poet,” said awards coordinator Melinda Gohn.

Gov. Josh Green’s Maui representative Leon Bolosan and Maui Mayor Bissen congratulated winners who recited their poems to an audience of more than 150 people at the University of Hawaii-Maui on Saturday.

Bissen opened his speech by leading the audience in singing some lyrics from Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love Of All,” saying, “I believe the children are our future / Teach them well and let them lead the way / Show them all the beauty they possess inside / Give them a sense of pride.”

Bolosan said in Hawaii, civil rights leader Dr. King’s legacy lives in the way we learn to agree to disagree, to live peacefully among multicultural groups, and peacefully respecting each other’s cultural traditions.

“To see so many young poetry winners here gives me hope that our future is bright,” Bolosan said.

Santiago also received a grand prize certificate issued by Gov. Josh Green and an original painting about “Love” donated by Maui artist Davo.

Sannylee Ermac from Maui Waena Intermediate School was awarded the Maui Dr. King Peace Poem Teacher of the Year.

The annual competition, sponsored by the Maui-based International Peace Poem Project, is to honor Dr. King, the civil rights leader who promoted nonviolent means to achieve social justice and equality.

Semifinalist winners received congratulatory certificates from Gov. Josh Green and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen. Photo courtesy of International Peace Poem Project.

Eleven Golden Circle winners received certificates from Gov. Green, and 82 winning students received certificates furnished by Maui Mayor Bissen. Students also received a limited-edition commemorative poster featuring the double-hulled sailing canoe Hokule’a sailing by the Statue of Liberty. The photograph of the Hokule’a was donated courtesy of photographer Justyn Ah Chong, the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and Oiwi TV.

Poetry organizer Melinda Gohn said Santiago’s winning peace poem, “A World to Call Hope,” portrays an understanding that hope brings strength and power to us all. Santiago uses metered rhyme, imagery and metaphor to illustrate her view of Dr. King’s dream of hope and peace for the world.

The poem begins, “He lived in times of sadness and fear / Where justice felt so far from here.” Santiago continues, “He taught that hate could never win / That love is where we all begin…he made us see, he made us try / To lift one another, not divide.” Santiago concludes, “His dreams still live in me and you / A world made fair, a world made true.”

The Maui-based project, composed of volunteers with no paid staff, was invited by the United Nations to participate in Millennium Peace Day at the United Nations in New York in 2000.

Award ceremonies, part of a proactive nonprofit program promoting nonviolence in the schools, are held annually in each of Hawaii’s four counties.

More information about the International Peace Poem Project, including volunteering in next year’s awards, may be obtained by accessing their website at peacepoem.org