Dominique Wharton, one of the fifteen students of the 2007-2008 West Kentucky Community & Technical College Governor's Minority Students College Preparation Program was the third place winner in a recent Martin Luther King Essay Contest. He won a $50 US Savings Bond.

The son of Ayesha Wharton of Paducah, Dominique is currently a freshman at Paducah Tilghman High School.

The Governor's Minority Students College Preparation Program is designed to:

1. Make students aware of the benefits they would get from college.

2. Prepare students for college by educating them to be successful in rigorous classes which will prepare them for college.

3. Encourage students to consider college as an achievable option.

4. Help prepare students to be successful in college level work and to stay in college until they graduate.

The goal of this program is to begin exposing students to the opportunities and challenges of college, while preparing them for college as early as elementary and middle school.