Fourth-graders in Hannah Tanksley’s class at Brownstown Elementary School created this tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Submitted photo

This Brownstown Elementary School fourth-grader’s dream is to help families in need. Submitted photo

This Brownstown Elementary School fourth-grader’s dream is for anyone — no matter their age or gender — to be able to play a sport they enjoy. Submitted photo

This Brownstown Elementary School fourth-grader’s dream is for animals to live freely in their habitat. Submitted photo

This Brownstown Elementary School fourth-grader’s dream is to have a horse barn for children with autism. Submitted photo

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

On the third Monday of January each year, the nation pauses in remembrance of the civil rights leader. The federal holiday was designed to honor the activist and minister assassinated in 1968, whose accomplishments have continued to inspire generations of Americans, according to history.org.

King was the first modern private citizen to be honored with a federal holiday, and the first push for that took place just four days after his assassination, the website says.

Later on, President Ronald Reagan signed the legislation making it a federal holiday, and it was first observed Jan. 20, 1986. It wasn’t until 2000 that every state observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to history.org.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, fourth-graders in Hannah Tanksley’s class at Brownstown Elementary School spent time Friday creating a collaborative portrait of King and writing about dreams they have for the world.

All of it was placed on a wall outside her classroom.

“I love these kiddos and how motivated they are to one day change the world,” Tanksley wrote on Facebook while sharing photos of the finished product.