The Optimist Club met this morning at The Last Catch restaurant in Jasper for their monthly gathering. They also met for a very special reason which was to publicly introduce the winners of their oratorical contest from the 14 competitors from Dawson County Middle School, Wildwood Christian Academy and Pickens County Middle School.There were two divisions: boys and girls. Of those divisions, the top three girls were:

First place: Evelyn “Evy” Ulery of DCMS
Second place: Alexis Cook of WCA
Third place: Isabella Brown of DCMS

And the top three boys:
First place: Noah Stapp of DCMS
Second place: E.J. Elliott of DCMS
Third place: Daniel Bulos of WCA

First place winners received a $75 check and a gold medallion while 2nd garnered $50/silver medallions. Third place got bronze medallions and $25.

The two first place winners gave their award-winning speeches about their passions and their impact on the world at the meeting.

First up, girls winner Evy Ulery spoke about how she expresses her passion for emotion through drawing and poetry. By examining the “negative” feelings in life, she uses both mediums to express those feelings in a more vivid fashion in an attempt to bring them to the forefront and help those who suffer.

“Sometimes words just aren’t enough and sometimes you can’t put your feelings into words. I use pictures to express those thoughts….I can speak entirely in metaphors with poetry,”

she explained.

Ulery later expressed,

“There is beauty in darkness,”

and finding your way through the darkness to see the light is how one traverses times of trouble.

When it was time to give his speech, Noah Stapp stated his two passions are writing stories and dance. His passion began on a sleepless night when he experienced the urge to write a story he’d imagined down.

“It was during that time I realized I was meant for something greater, stronger and more spectacular than what I thought I could be before.”

He now writes his stories and shares them with his family and community so that they can also share them and enrich their lives.

He admits his focus isn’t only on writing but also in dance.

“In my own words, dancing is to openly express yourself through a smooth, usually intricate movement or gesture…anyone can dance.”

He helps special needs students learn to express themselves through dance in a class he teaches.

The winners will now advance to a zone contest, set for this Saturday in Canton at the Board of Education auditorium. The winners from that contest will proceed to the state level. FYN wishes our local winners the best of luck in all future competitions and congratulates them on their achievements thus far.

For first place speeches from Ulery and Stapp, please see the following video: