A Dream Fulfilled

Three weeks ago, Thang Pham said, he looked out a window of his school and saw diverse faces. The Westminster High School junior was looking for some inspiration for his entry in a school contest celebrating Black History Month.

The ethnically mixed student body passing by his classroom was all the inspiration he needed to begin his art project. Thang, who has been sculpting for two years, created a mask-type piece that he named “The Face of Hope.” The sculpture, a light, earth-tone color with nondescript facial features, is Thang’s vision for showing the “universal face of human,” he said.

On Monday, Thang was one of 12 students recognized for their participation in the “I Have a Dream” contest, in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his famous 1963 speech. Thang won in the sculpture category and received honorable mention in the literature category for his “Endless Dream” poem.

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The entries for the categories of sculpture, drawing and literature were as diverse as the student body. The school is made up of mostly Asian and Latino students. Eighteen percent of the students are white, and 60 languages and dialects are spoken.

The winning drawing by Xuan Huynh portrays four people of various ethnicities holding oversized pencils with erasers poised to wipe out a “color line.” Mayra Retano’s second-place drawing shows two babies, one African American and one white, playing together.

“One of my dreams is for the world not to be racist,” said Mayra, a freshman. The babies represent a time of our lives when a person’s color does not matter, she said.

Thang, who said he did not envision winning in the contest, said his sculpture and poem were a way of expressing racial equality.

“I hope to spread the message of hope that people could look beyond the outside features of a person,” he said.

Winners will receive $10 to $25 gift certificates at the Westminster Mall, student contest organizer Irene Brito said.

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Alex Murashko can be reached at (714) 966-5974.