Winners of LUMC Optimist Club’s Essay Contest (from left) Ethan Anderson, Laura Friedrich and Elise Albeck.
Arapahoe High School students took first, second and third place at this year’s local Optimist Essay Contest for their well-written essays on the topic, “optimism should be a priority.” The Littleton United Methodist Church (LUMC) Optimist Club hosted the local contest and is a division of the global organization Optimist International. Each year, Optimist International assigns an essay topic where students have the chance to compete at the local, district and international level.
Ethan Anderson, a junior at Arapahoe, won first place. His essay was forwarded to the district competition, where he will compete for a $2,500 college scholarship. The district will submit its winners to Optimist International by the end of this week. Elise Albeck and Laura Friedrich, also juniors, were the second and third place winners at the local level. The students and their parents attended an LUMC Optimist Club meeting on April 1st, where they read their essays to members and guests, and each received an engraved medallion, a certificate for participation and a monetary reward. All three winners are students in Marlys Ferrill’s Language Arts class at Arapahoe. Every year, Ferrill encourages students to compete in this positive competition, supporting both optimism and writing skills.