Students from Perry County competed in an oratorical contest on Sat., March 16, 2024, at the Perry County Courthouse Annex. Ania Faith King, a 7th grader at Francis Marion, and Marquaveon Tabb, a senior at R.C. Hatch, won the Optimist Club of Perry County’s oratorical contest based on the topic of “How to Change the World with Optimism.” King was awarded 1st place, and Tabb placed 2nd. In addition, King and Tabb competed at the zone level, competing against winners from other Optimist Clubs in the Montgomery area. King won 1st place on the zone level and will proceed to the district contest in Mobile, AL. King has a chance to compete to win a scholarship and then possibly to the Optimist International Regional/World Championship for a chance to win an additional $5,000 or up to another $15,000 scholarship.
“We are fortunate to have our youth to express themselves written as well as orally. It takes a partnership between the school and parents working with our children collectively. This evidence of those efforts working at its best,” Club President Tommy King said. “We are very proud of Faith.”
The Alfred G. Adams Optimist Club of Perry County has participated in the Optimist Oratorical Contest for the past three years. Other programs and service projects that the Club is involved in include Food Drive, Essay Contest, Respect the Law Event and Autism Awareness Walk.
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. The Optimist Oratorical Contest is one of the organization’s most popular programs, with more than 2,000 clubs participating annually. 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. To learn more about Optimist International, please call (314) 371-6000 or visit the organization’s website at www.optimist.org.
