Every year, the Optimist Club of Littleton holds oratorical and essay contests in which students who live in Littleton have the opportunity to compete for prizes and scholarships. In both the contests, entrants must be under the age of 19. The oratorical contest is open to middle and high school students and is limited to the first 12 participants; there is no minimum age requirement for the essay contest.

Oratorical Contest
Since its inception in 1928, the Optimist Oratorical Contest has become the longest-running contest sponsored by Optimist International. It is designed to give students experience in public speaking and to provide them an opportunity to compete for a college scholarship.

This year, Lynae Lambert, a sophomore at Arapahoe High School, took third place in the contest, and Sloane Seigel, a sixth grader at Newton Middle School, took fifth place. Sloane was the youngest contestant in the competition! The four- to five-minute speeches were on the topic of “Staying Optimistic in Challenging Times.”

Essay Contest
This year’s essay contest was on the topic of “How Does an Optimistic Mindset Change My Tomorrow?” 

Four out of seven essays the Littleton Optimists received were from LPS students, and two out of these placed in the top three! Riley Cottgias, a seventh grader at Newton Middle School, took second place, and Catherine May, a junior at LIttleton High School, took third place. Riley received a $250 prize and a silver medal; Catherine received a $125 prize and a bronze medal. Other LPS participants included Lucy Sanders, an eighth grader at Newton Middle School, and Baani Sandhu, a sixth grader at Newton Middle School.

Read Riley’s essay
Read Catherine’s essay
Read Lucy’s essay
Read Baani’s essay

Congratulations to all participants! Angela Christensen, LPS Board of Education Vice President and Optimist Club of Littleton member, said, “I was honored to be one of the judges for both contests and was quite impressed with the level of writing by students so young!”