Sixth-grader Hannah Gilbert, a Sunrise Elementary student with Down syndrome, was unable to accept her Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest award earlier this year. So, on Monday, state leaders came to her.
Representatives from the governor's office honored Gilbert as one of this year's winners of the "I Have a Dream" statewide essay contest.
Director of Black Affairs Michael Styles said hundreds of essays were received from students who had dreams of saving animals and the environment or being a policeman. Some even wanted to be the first woman president.
"But I have yet to see one that was as wonderful as this — this was probably the most incredible essay I have had a chance to read in my three years," Styles said.
Gilbert wrote in her essay that her dream was to help little kids with special needs like her.
"Other kids treat me good and that is my dream for special kids. . . . I want people to help special kids with their work, help them on the computer, help some walk, help them buy food at the grocery store for their families," she wrote in the essay.
"Please treat special needs kids good and don't be mean and treat them like they are gorgeous."
Gilbert read her essay to the sixth-grade classes at the school and was also awarded with a Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative pin.
Sunrise Elementary is also part of the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission's Adopt a School Program, in which leaders visit 18 schools to teach children to understand the importance of unity through diversity.
"We want kids to walk away with an understanding that we are all one community," Styles said. "Problems that affect one community affect all communities. And although we do have differences in culture, when it comes down to the bottom line, we're just people."
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