Eleven Hamilton School District students participated in this year’s Optimist Club of Sussex, Lisbon, Lannon and Butler Oratorical Contest. The three top finishers were:
- Junior Disha Deepak – first place and $250 prize
- Junior Jessica Cunningham – second place and a $150 prize
- Seventh grader Sanjay Balaji – third place and a $100 award
Winners were also given a medallion for their success in the 4- to 5-minute speech contest. This year’s topic was “How Optimism Has Guided Me Through Trying Times.” Deepak and Cunningham advanced to the next level of competition.
The contest is designed for youth to gain experience in public speaking, perfect self-expression, gain self-assurance, improve communication skills and provide them with the opportunity to compete for a college scholarship.
Optimist International is one of the world’s largest service club organizations with 80,000 adult and youth members in 2,500 clubs throughout the world. Since its start in 1928, the Optimist Oratorical Contest has become the longest-running program sponsored by Optimist International.