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Message from your Essay Chairperson

The winners and sponsoring clubs are:

 

       1st Place---Andrew Bell---Ocean City/Berlin

 

       2nd Place---Scott Yu---Rockville

 

       3rd Place---Emily Krohn---Calvert/Prince Frederick

 

The winning essay will be forwarded to OI for further

competition.  We are hopeful that we can arrange for him

to read his winning essay at the District Oratorical

Contest in Ocean City.

 

This year we had 17 clubs participate in the District

Contest.  Thanks to all the club chairpersons and the

clubs.

 

Judi Lazarus-Haag

MDSD Essay Chairperson

 

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       The Optimist International essay contest is sponsored to give our youth the opportunity to develop their  own views around a central idea. In addition the student who submits the winning essay at the district level wins a $650 college scholarship and a plaque.

     This year’s topic is The Internet; Today’s Evolution or Tomorrow’s Menace?”. The essay must be between 400-500 words [Title, footnotes and bibliography are not included in the final word count]. The contest is open to students under age 19 as of December 31, 2009. The deadline for students to submit essays is determined by the local Optimist Club, but the deadline for the Clubs to submit their winning essay to the District Chair is February 28, 2010. District entries are judged and submitted to the Optimist International Programs Department by April 15, 2009. International judging is held and the top 3 winners are announced in May, 2010.

    Clubs are allowed to give monetary awards of up to $500 per winner for the Essay contest in addition to the official medallions. The club level awards may be given in the form of a scholarship, saving bond or cash prize but are completely discretionary. Winners at the International level receive: 1st place: $6,000 college scholarship and a winner's plaque; 2nd place:  $3,750 college scholarship and a plaque; 3rd place: $2,250 college scholarship and plaque.

      I am available to answer any questions or to provide additional information. I can be contacted by e-mail at blazarus@atlanticbb.net or by phone at 301-729-9889

                                                                                                                                                 Respectfully Submitted,

                                                                                                                                                Judi Lazarus-Haag

                                                                                                                                                MDSD Essay Chairperson

Oratorical Contest and CCDHH Contest Update:

Here is the info for this year's contest ...  The Topic is "Cyber Communication—Progress Or Problem"

Briefing of Oratorical Judges:
3 - Non-Optimist judges will be used
Spouses of Optimists may not be used as judges
Judges do not know the contestants, i.e.: teachers, neighbors, or others who know any contestant cannot judge
Judges are given the rules and judging form
During the competition judges and the timekeeper will be in different locations within the room
Judges will never discuss or compare their impressions of the speakers or their scores
Each judge will render a final decision on all contestants without consultation anyone else
Each judge must score independently from other judges and anyone else
Each judge will total their scores with no ties allowed
The judge’s decisions will we kept confidential

Hints for the Audience:
No one will enter or leave the room while a contestant is speaking
No photos may be taken during the contest while students are speaking
All cellular telephones and pagers must be turned off
No applause until all the contestants have spoken and the judges have left the room
Contestants have their choice of:     Podium and Mike, Podium (alone), Mike (alone), or none of these
Contestants will be known only by their assigned letter until all the students have given their speeches and the judges have left the room
If a speaker is interrupted, through no fault of their own, and at the discretion of the narrator, the contestant will be given the option of:
    Starting their speech from the beginning
    Pause then start again from the point of the interruption  OR
    Wait until the last speaker has spoken and then start their speech from the beginning
No penalty will be assessed by the judges

Contest Rules:
Students must be under the age of 16 years
All students must speak on the assigned topic
Speakers must speak for a minimum of 4 minutes but not more than 5 minutes
Each speaker must state the official topic before beginning their speech in order for the timekeeper to record the exact time of the speech
Speakers may use notes, but can’t use props, special costumes or clothing
Speakers may not identify themselves in any way

Start of the Contest:
Speakers will be called by their letter i.e.: A, B
Each speaker will be asked how they wish to have the podium set, or if they want it removed, if they wish to use a microphone or not, they will be made comfortable prior to beginning their speech
After each speaker is finished, the narrator will give the judges about 2 minutes to do their scoring, then we will move onto the next contestant
After all contestants have been heard, the narrator will ask the judges and the timekeeper to leave the room When they have cleared the room, we will ask for a show of appreciation to the contestants
The narrator will ask each speaker to come forward to be introduced
After the judges are completed with the scoring, prizes will be awarded

Some more general info is listed below ...

Who: Students under the age of 16 years as of December 31 of the 2009-2010 school year and who are educated in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean.

How To Enter: Interested students submit a speech on the pre-assigned topic to their local Optimist Club.  To find out the contact in your area, please email the Programs department at programs@optimist.org.

The Optimist Oratorical Contest gives youngsters the chance to speak to the world. More than $150,000 in college scholarships are awarded annually from this program.

First conducted in 1928, this is the second most popular Optimist International Program. Nearly 2,000 clubs participate in this program each year. The winners at the Club level receive medallions and Zone winners receive a plaque. Districts have the opportunity to provide two $1,500 scholarships or a first place scholarship of $1,500, a second place scholarship of $1,000, and a third place scholarship of $500.

Our Oratorical Chair is John Donohue and his Committee member is Marsha Poulos. Please consider volunteering to  assist at the Zone contests and  helping chaperone at the District Contest.  It is a very rewarding and fun experience. You may contact John Donohue at jfd@atlantech.net or Marsha Poulos at avanti64@yahoo.com, home: 410-757-5147 or work: 410-224-8108.

   The contest rules, applications, etc. are available on the OI web site, www.optimist.org. Now is the time to get started!




Here are some Pictures from the Lanes from the wonderful weekend in Ocean City !

                   
              

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Tyler P. Weyant, has placed 3rd in the OI INTERNATIONAL Essay Contest. He will receive a $2,250 scholarship

and a plaque from OI. Tyler is 17 years old and was sponsored by the Greater Jacksonville Optimist Club. He

plans to study Journalism at the University of Maryland in College Park this fall. Tyler and his parents joined us

at the MDSD conference in Ocean City earlier this month, where he read his winning essay to those in attendance.

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CCDHH Winner was Darrius Doe 13 year old boy from Baltimore he attends the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick

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2009 Essay Winners are listed Below ... Congrats to them and a job well done by all !

1st Place: Tyler P. Weyant, age 17, Sponsoring club was Greater Jacksonville

2nd Place: Delaney Hart, age 12, Sponsoring club was Mechanicsville

3rd Place: Sonia Gupta, age 15, Sponsoring club was Timonium

 

There were 17 clubs participating and 369 students entered the contest. Congratulations to the students and sponsoring clubs. The winning essay has been forwarded to OI for further competition.






 

For info about the programs for 2009 from Optimist International ...

Click on the links below ...

For Essay Info click Here!

For Oratorical Info click Here!