Local Oratorical Contest Winners Place 2nd And 3rd At North Florida District Oratorical Competition

Plant City Optimist Club Oratorical Contest representatives Kenley Connell and Kyleigh Elliott placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively, at the North Florida District Oratorical Competition held Saturday, April 29, in Bushnell.

Representing the Southwest Region (Tampa Bay area), Kenley and Kyleigh competed with the top two orators from the Southeast Region (Orlando/Cocoa/Daytona area) and the top two from the North Region. The North Florida District consists of all counties north of and including the counties of Sarasota, Manatee, Polk, Osceola, and Brevard.

Taylor Swearingen, a junior at Mariana High School and representing Mariana Optimist Club in the North Region, placed 1st at the North Florida District competition, capturing the $2,500 college scholarship. She will represent the North Florida District against seven other US Southeast Districts, working toward a shot at the World Championship contest, both held July 21-22, 2023, in St Louis, MO.

Finishing second at the North Florida District competition, Kenley received a $1,500 college scholarship and Kyleigh’s third-place finish secured a $1,000 college scholarship for her.

Kenley and Kyleigh placed first and second, respectively, in the local (Plant City) competition on February 20. After competing against the top two orators from Winter Haven Optimist Club’s local competition, the judges scored Kyleigh first and Kenley second in the Zone Competition on March 27, finishing just one point apart in the scoring. Kyleigh attends Foundation Christian Academy in Valrico, while Kenley attends Plant City High School.

The theme of this year’s contest is “Discovering the Optimism Within Me.” The students presented their four to five-minute orations in front of an audience of around 100 people, including their family and guests, as well as North Florida District club representatives at the North Florida District 3rd Quarter Conference. Students must be under the age of 18 as of October 1 of the current school year to qualify for the competition.

“We are extremely proud of our Plant City representatives. They did a great job against some tough competition,” said Plant City Oratorical Contest Chairman Doris Robbins.

This was the first time that the Plant City club has had two competitors make it to the North Florida District Competition.

For more information about the Optimist Club of Plant City, please contact Plant City club president Pat Stottlemyer at president@ plantcityoptimistclub.org or 813-494-9615.