The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club recently hosted the winners of the Oratorical and Essay Contests at the Shrine Building at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, Warsaw. Photos provided.

News Release

WARSAW — The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club has announced the conclusion of its 2024 Oratorical and Essay Contests, which culminated in an awards ceremony held at a recent club meeting.

The event showcased local students in the realms of public speaking and writing.

The Oratorical and Essay Contests, longstanding traditions of the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, aim to encourage and recognize excellence in communication skills among youth in the community. Participants were asked to either write an essay with the theme “Optimism: How it Connects Us” or a speech with this year’s theme, “Discovering the Optimist Within Me.”

The following students emerged as the winners of the 2024 Oratorical and Essay Contests:

Oratorical Contest Winners

• First: Shashank Upadhyay of Warsaw Community High School
• Second: Emilia Samaranayake of Warsaw Community High School

Essay Contest Winners

• First: Caleb Smith of Warsaw Community High School
• Second: Bryttin Wagoner of Lincoln Elementary School, Warsaw
• Third: Lynk Klinefelter of Wawasee High School, Syracuse

During the awards ceremony, winners read or performed and were presented with certificates of achievement, medals and/or monetary prizes or Kosciusko Cash.

The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club said it was grateful to all the participants, judges, sponsors and volunteers who contributed to this year’s contest. Through events like these, the club demonstrates its commitment to fostering optimism, leadership and academic success among youth in Warsaw and beyond.

For more information about the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club and its initiatives, visit warsawoptimist.org.

Pictured in front from left are winners in the Oratorical Contest: Emilia Samaranayake, Margareta Loebs, Neil Viswanadha and Shashank Upadhyay. Upadhyay won first place. In back, is Oratorical Contest chairman Jeff Owens.

Oratorical winner Emilia Samaranayake performs at the Optimist Club.

Pictured from left are Essay Contest winners Lynk Klinefelter, Bryttin Wagoner and Caleb Smith. Smith won first place. At far right is Shari Benyousky, Essay Contest chairwoman.

Oratorical winner Shashank Upadhyay performs at the Optimist Club.

Essay winner Caleb Smith reads his essay for the Optimist Club.