Aviation Press Releases

January 10, 2012

Local Students to Carry Torch Opening the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast

Phoenix, AZ – Students from Edison Elementary School in Phoenix will officially open this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Awards Breakfast with a 3.5 mile “Flame of Hope” Torch Run through downtown Phoenix Friday, January 13. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton will kick off the Torch Run at Phoenix City Hall at 6:00 a.m. Phoenix Police officers will join the students as they depart from City Hall running west to the State Capitol, then east to US Airways arena and finally north to the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel where they will present the torch and open the annual Breakfast event at 7:00 a.m. “Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is proud to carry on the tradition of this torch run as a sponsor. We are even more pleased that 4th – 6th grade students from one of our airport neighborhoods will once again be participating as our ‘featured runners’ for this event,” said Valerie Churchwell, Community Outreach Manager for the Phoenix Aviation Department.

This will be the sixth year that students from Edison Elementary School have taken part in the Martin Luther King Jr. Torch Run. “The students from Edison Elementary School are very proud to be participating in the run again this year. Being from a very diverse community, this is an opportunity to expose them to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Learning about him and his commitment to help all people, regardless of race, has been an inspiration to them,” said Edison Elementary School Coach, Larry Weig.

The students will also lead the City of Phoenix annual Martin Luther King Day march on January 16th. The three mile march will depart from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church at 9:00 a.m., ending at Margaret T. Hance Park located at 3rd Street and Moreland in Phoenix.