Springboro Optimists to Award Scholarships in Essay Contest

And Announce Speech Contest Scheduled for March 1

The Springboro Optimist Club has announced that Springboro High School senior Nathan Benham is the recipient of the Margaret Barclay Scholarship Award. This $2000 scholarship award is given to the winning local essay submitted in the Optimist International Essay Contest. This year’s topic was “Reaching Your Dreams By Choosing Optimism.” More than 20 students submitted essays to the competition, which is open to any public, private, or homeschool high school student under the age of 19 as of October 1, 2020 who lives within the Springboro Community City School District. Springboro High School students Abby Hoehn, Faith Hampton, Tyler Bruce, and Macy Stephens also achieved cash awards for their essays. The five students will receive their awards at the Springboro Optimists meeting on February 11.

The Margaret Barclay Scholarship honors the memory of one of the founding members of the Springboro Optimist Club. Margaret Barclay served as president of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club and Regional Governor in Ohio, and she was a long time teacher and principal in Centerville. The Springboro Optimists will send Benham’s scholarship to the college of his choice for undergraduate studies in the fall of 2021, and his essay now advances to district competition. Benham plans to major in mechanical engineering.

The Springboro Optimists now turn their attention to the 2021 Oratorical Contest. This year’s contest will be held on Monday, March 1, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The oratorical contest topic in 2021 is “Healing the World with Optimism.” Students will deliver a four to five minute speech to compete for two $500 scholarships. Cash prizes of $300, $200, and $100 will also be awarded to the top student speakers. In 2018, one of the local oratorical contest winners from Springboro advanced to the International level and achieved more than $5000 in scholarships.

This year’s contest rules allow for in person and online participation. To maintain social distancing, students will reserve a time to deliver their speech. Students will deliver their four to five minute speech live online through Zoom or in person at the Class 101 large group classroom, 36 South Richards Run in Springboro. Interested students may reserve their place and see more contest information through this link: https://forms.gle/mN2QqtC6J7agLeY38 .

“Students today have so many fresh ideas about the world and their future,” said Karen Lane DeRosa, Springboro Optimist Essay and Oratorical Contest Chair. “As Optimists, it is our goal to encourage them especially during this difficult time. This is a terrific opportunity for our teens to tap into their creativity, share their vision, and pursue scholarships at the same time.” Students wishing to participate in the speech contest can find out more by contacting DeRosa at 937-672-3733 or kderosa@Class101.com.

Optimist International is one of the world’s largest service club organizations with over 80,000 adult and youth members in almost 3,000 clubs in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico and throughout the world. Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Youth, in our Communities, and in Ourselves,” Optimists conduct positive service projects that reach more than six million young people each year. In our area, they are best known for their fundraiser with the Avenue of Flags during patriotic holidays. Springboro Optimist meetings are held the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 a.m. at the City of Springboro municipal building.

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