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Thursday, October 25, 2018

Scholarship Contests, oh my!


It's true!

Perhaps the easiest projects for an Optimist Club to hold are the communications programs for which Optimist International is known. What are they?

The Scholarship Contests

There are three contests that start at the Optimist Club level that lead students to $2,500 scholarship awards and one can lead to as much as $22,500!

All are outlined in handy club-level planning guides accessible through the links below.

The topic for the 2018-2019 Optimist International Essay Contest is "When All the World’s Problems are Solved, is Optimism Still Necessary?"
Download the entry form.

The topic for the 2018-2019 Optimist International Oratorical World Championships is “Is There a Fine Line Between Optimism and Reality?” 
Download the entry form.

The topic for the 2018-2019 Optimist International Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH)  is “Is There a Fine Line Between Optimism and Reality?”
Download the entry form.

There is also a program for younger students preparing to enter the Oratorical World Championships called Kids Speak Out. Optimist Clubs may choose the topic for this contest.

New Rules

There are new rules in place regarding the Optimist International Oratorical Contest. The biggest change is that students who have won second or third place scholarships at the District level are now eligible to return to competition. Only students who have placed first at a District level competition are ineligible to participate.
Read all the rules changes here.

In the Pacific Northwest District the following guidelines must be observed:

  • Optimist Clubs must submit their winning essay to the District Chairperson by February 28, 2018
  • There will be no zone contests for the Oratorical or CCDHH. Regional contests will be held for the Oratorical Contest and the CCDHH at the same time.  The dates of the regional contests are Oregon - March 9, 2019; Idaho - March 16, 2019; Washington and Alaska - March 23, 2019; British Columbia - March 30, 2019. 
  • Two contestants from each state in the Oratorical and CCDHH contests will advance to the District competition on April 12, 2019. 
Questions regarding the competitions should be addressed to the lieutenant governor in each zone. 





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