To millions around the world, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a visionary civil rights leader and champion of the little man.

To 10-year-old Trevor White, he's just Martin, a friend and role model.

Just like any of Trevor's other friends, Martin had dreams and goals, albeit on a grander scale.

"Martin was trying to change the whole world," said Trevor, a fourth-grader at Ironton Middle School. "He wasn't just doing it for the black people. He was doing it for everyone."

So what did Martin want most, according to 8-year-old Allie Layne?

"He had a dream that all children, black and white, would join hands and sing and that blacks and whites would be treated equally," said Allie, a third-grader at Burlington Elementary School.

Martin would be pleased if he were to visit these two schools today, 10-year-old Jalen Schweickart said.

"He'd be happy because black people and white people get along," said Jalen, a fourth-grader at Ironton Middle.

But Jalen's classmate Chris Daniels realized that classrooms once looked very different.

"Back then, there were schools for black people on one end and schools for white people on the other," said 10-year-old Chris. "It would have been bad because you might have had a friend (of another race) and you wouldn't be allowed to play with them."

For Burlington Elementary Librarian Harriette Ramsey, the days of segregated schools don't seem so far removed. She remembers her childhood days in Ashland, Ky., where she attended the all-black Booker T. Washington School and wasn't allowed to eat in restaurants.

Ramsey has tried to share those experiences with her own children and those who visit her library.

"These kids just can't always understand," she said. "They can't believe these things happened. My children are grown and they can't believe I went through it."

Jan. 17 is reason to celebrate because of the changes she's seen in the course of her lifetime. The responsibility of continuing that change now falls to the latest generation.

"Children aren't born with prejudices, they're taught," Ramsey said. "If we leave these children alone, this world would be a much better place because they accept you for what you are and not what you have or what color you are. That, of course, would be Utopia."

Utopia may not be achievable, but these schoolchildren are grateful for what King did for all of them, of all races, creeds and backgrounds.

"I would like to tell him how thankful I am for him because he got blacks and whites to be friends," said 8-year-old Bryce Butcher, a third-grader at Burlington Elementary. "We don't have to be different from each other and we don't have to be separated any more."

Thanks to children like Bryce, perhaps Martin's dream for future generations has come true:

"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 their character."