The winners of the 2025 Optimist Essay contest are Mandy Burenga, Katie Kramer, and Maria Parrish. The topic for this year was, “How Optimism Helped Pave the Way for My Success.”
Prizes of $300, $200, and $100 were awarded to the respective winners at the Mar. 6 Optimist Club meeting.
The first-place essay was sent on to the district level competition, for a chance at college scholarships through the Great Ohio District of Optimist International.
The Optimist Club of Van Wert expresses its thanks to Bitsi Clark, Kylee Moody, and Paul Cearns for judging this year’s entries.