COEUR d'ALENE — Clasp your hands together, intertwining your fingers and taking note of where your thumbs are.

Pull them apart, and do it again. Is one thumb naturally on the outside?

Clasp your hands together again. This time, make sure your other thumb is on the outside. It might be a challenge, but it's not impossible.

"Take the time to not do what is easy, but to choose to do things differently," Kristine Hoover said Friday morning to an auditorium full of fifth graders from the Coeur d'Alene School District.

"In some ways, it can be a reminder that we can choose to be more kind, more caring, more welcoming," she said. "Even if it's hard sometimes, we can do it."

Hoover is a Gonzaga University professor in the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program. She is also a former executive director of the Gonzaga University Institute for Hate Studies.

She asked the students to participate in the simple hand exercise as she made a point about the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

"Dr. King could have done what was easy to do, but he didn't," she said. "Dr. King did the work that was challenging and he tried to create change to do things differently. He thought about how he could make a difference in other people's lives."

Hoover was the honored guest speaker during Coeur d'Alene's 37th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Celebration, held in the Schuler Performing Arts Center on the North Idaho College campus.

The program featured performances by the Lake City High School Navy Blues singing group and the Bryan Special Choir as well as essay readings by students from every school in the district in honor of King and the holiday named in his honor, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was Monday.

This year's program was themed, "We Are All Connected."

"Not only did he have a dream, but he worked hard to fulfill it," Nora Owen said as she read her King essay on stage.

"He hated segregation, even as a child," she said. "His best friend was white, so he had to go to a different school. Because of that experience, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his life to ending segregation, especially in schools."

As he opened his essay, Atlas Elementary's Jonah Swofford quoted the famous "I Have a Dream" speech King delivered Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Jonah's essay centered on building caring communities where everyone feels they belong. He discussed the importance of trust, respect, equality and empathy.

"If we can trust one other, people won't have to spend too much money on locks for their doors and other things to keep their personal items safe," he said. "Eventually, if we can learn to trust each other, no one will have to buy locks for their doors anymore. That is the first thing that we need to add to our community."

He again quoted King: "We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish as fools."

"Once we have trust, the next thing we need is respect for each other," Jonah said. "If we respect each other, we won't be offended so easily and we can learn to appreciate and celebrate our differences."

    Atlas Elementary fifth grader Jonah Swofford reads his essay about trust, respect and empathy Friday morning during the 37th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fifth grade program at North Idaho College. The program was sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene School District, NIC, Kristine Hoover of Gonzaga University and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
  

    Kristine Hoover, Gonzaga University professor and former executive director of the Gonzaga University Institute for Hate Studies, asks students to participate in a simple hand exercise Friday morning during the Coeur d'Alene School District's Martin Luther King Jr. fifth grade program at North Idaho College.