Dallas, TX – The 11th Masonic District of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and Its Jurisdiction held its Annual Scholarship Essay Contest for DFW High School Seniors on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at Martin Luther King Jr Center.
The scholarship recipient was announced after the judges (educators who volunteered) completed their evaluation and scoring of each essay that was written on-site.
During the timeframe that the judges were reviewing and scoring essays, a timely and inspiring message was provided by Mr. Ricky C. McNeal, President of the Garland – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – “A Dream Deferred; What Are You Going To Do With Your Dream?”. He encouraged the participants to:
* Keep Moving. Don’t sit still and fester. Give your dream room to explode. Some day and one day are not days; plan your dreams around the 7 days.
* Verify you are moving in the right direction.
* Make sure the people in your circle are inspiring to you.
* You can’t discover knew oceans until you leave the shore.
* Rewrite the future today. Live it daily.
* Your gift will make room for you.
* Don’t allow life’s interruptions to halt your dream.
* Life is a leaf of paper white. Life is presented as a blank sheet, emphasizing potential and opportunity.
* We are responsible for writing our own story.
Afterwards, a good meal was provided for all in attendance.
Special thanks for all of the high school seniors that participated, the Martin Luther King Jr Center and the educators that served as judges making this event successful. Thanks also to the District #11 lodges that identified the participants that represented them.
The 1st place recipient will represent District #11 in the Scholarship Essay Contest during the Annual Grand Communication for the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and Its Jurisdiction, along with the other District’s representatives, to secure additional scholarship funding to pursue an education at an institution of higher learning.
After the Awards were announced, Special District Deputy Grand Master Watson presented an appreciation to the guest speaker. He then explained the next steps to the District Scholarship winner and he also explained the process to claim the District Scholarship funds to the participants.
This year’s scholarship was in honor of Mrs. Carla Hill-Morton, who was a long-time educator who recently passed. One of her passions was helping students to get into a college/university and to be successful in collegiate matriculation. Her husband and other masons shared the spirit of Mrs. Hill-Morton with the participants.
