March 17, 2004
Students give Optimistic speeches
Ninth graders present views at Optimist Club's Oratorical Contest
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Character and determination, attitude and accomplishment: these some of the hallmarks of success.
Speaking on the topic of Thinking, Working and Expecting the Best, five area ninth grade boys discussed success in the Optimist Club's Oratorical Contest, held Monday at Northwestern Michigan College's University Center.
Will Arnold, a ninth-grade student from East Junior High was the first place winner of the four- to five-minute speech. Sprinkling his talk with humorous and personal anecdotes from his challenges as a wrestler, Arnold presented a calm and confident demeanor. He also discussed the history of the Holocaust and how an attitude of hope sustained survivors during the horrors of concentration camps.
"The personal stuff helped illustrate the topic," he noted.
The other contestants were: Chris Little, second place, and Alex Lane, third place, both of East Junior High; Connor Sweeney of West Junior High; Arthur Velez of West Junior High.
For the boys, gathering for lunch and the speech was a reunion of sorts: all five of them had been together in the TAG program at Central Grade School. All the boys are veteran performers, each being active in band, orchestra, choral or acting as extracurricular activities.
Alex Lane discussed accomplishment in depth and described paternal advice that serves him well as he keeps his dreams rooted in reality.
"My father has a quotation, 'Never let your dreams get ahead of your work,'" Lane said. "His words have served me well. Set your goals high but achieve a delicate balance in reality."
Six area girls competed in the Oratorical Contest the previous Monday at the same location. Participating girls were all ninth grade students except as noted: Holly O'Brien, first place, West Junior High; Kayla Marrow, second place, Grand Traverse Academy; Kristen Vermetten, third place, eighth grade at East Junior High; Haley Robinson, West Junior High; Liz Norton and Katie Burns, both of East Junior High.
The first place winner from each category will compete in a district oratorical contest in April.
The Optimist Club's Oratorical Contest is geared to students ages 16 and under. The yearly event is a regular feature of Optimist Clubs worldwide since its inauguration in 1928.
Bill Bassett co-chaired the competition locally and remarked on the students' high-quality presentations.
"It was really hard for the judges, you guys did a nice job," he told the boys after their presentations.
Speech teachers at both East and West Junior High schools assigned the topic to their classes, said teacher Carrie Robbins of West Junior High. At her school, students in the four ninth-grade classes presented their speeches to the class and the teachers chose the top two papers from each class.
Then students presented their speech before a panel of teachers, who picked the top two boys and top two girls to participate in the contest.
She noted how the topic and the theme of optimism sparked her students' interest.
"The discussions that came about when they learned that there was actually a club that helped children and were optimistic were very interesting," said Robbins, who teaches biology, speech and debate at the school. "It made them realize that optimism really does make a difference."
Ann Cooper, a cultural studies teacher at East Junior High, attended the contest for the first time Monday.
"I'm so impressed with this group to make this opportunity available for these kids," she said. "It is excellent for our students to be able to talk in front of a group and gain that polish; second, it is an excellent topic and third, it is great to see core values in action."