OPTIMIST IN ACTION CONTEST

Contest Dates for Optimist in Action District Contest

Purpose: Encourage clubs in the Atlantic Central District (ACD) to develop and participate in new projects that support the guiding principles of Optimist International "By providing hope and a positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities and ourselves.

Rules:

Clubs may participate in up to three (3) different categories:

Youth Activities
Community Activities
Optimist Members

For your club to qualify:

Your club must participate in at least one of the ACD initiatives between October 1st and June 30th
For every NEW. initiative you participate in and submit, your club receives an entry into the drawing
Submit the Optimist in Action Form and photo or video of your participation to: Acdistrict85@yahoo.com within 30 days of the project.
All entries must be received by June 30th
The form must be signed by the Club President
The drawing will occur at the District Convention in August

PRIZE MONEY:

First Place: $300.00

Second Place: $200.00

Third Place: $100.00

New project is any project that has not been done by the club within the last five (5) years

Form is below!

Oratorical Contest 2025-2026

“Topic: “The Moment I Realized I belonged - My Definition of Community”

District Contests will be held at the 3rd quarter board meeting

Date: 4/1/2025

Preliminaries – at 10:00 am – students to arrive by 9:15am

Finals – after lunch

Club/Zone entries to District MUST be received no later than 4/1/2026 by District Chair. (See chair info below.)

Details:

1. Clubs may advance up to two contestants to the District level.

2. District contest is non-gender specific.

If your club is still holding separate male/female contests, make sure you are using the same judges for both contests. You will advance the winner who scored the highest to the District contest.

3. District contest fee is $50.00 per entry.

4. Please contact the chair (noted below) and let her know if you are OR are not having a club contest. (Lt. Gov. please let me know if you are having a zone contest.) IF a zone has the minimum of three contestants and wants to hold a zone contest, that winner will advance directly to the District finals.

5. Everything you need (except your judges of course) can be found in the Club Planning Guide found here: https://optimist.org/documents/2025/programs/24-25_Oratorical_Club_Planning_Guide.pdf

6. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the District Oratorical Chair, Sue Creswell with any questions.

** District Winner will advance to the Regional competition.

District Chair: Phillip Hadadd

323 E Philadelphia Ave; Boyertown, PA 19512

Email: phil128@comcast.net Cell #: 610-587-7754

Contest:

District Contests will be held in person on April 25, 2025

Kutztown University

Kutztown, PA

District Entry Fee

$50.00 per entry; made payable to Atlantic Central District

Planning Guide

Visit optimist.org for your Planning Guide

Additional Contest Details:

1. Clubs may advance up to two contestants to the District level.

2. District contest is non-gender specific.

If your club is still holding separate male/female contests, make sure you are using the same judges for both

contests. You will advance the winner who scored the highest to the District contest.

If a zone has the minimum of three contestants and wants to hold a zone contest, that winner will advance directly to the District finals.

DISTRICT SCHOLARSHIPS:

First Place: $2,500

Second Place: $1,500

Third Place: $1,000

Contestants have a chance to win up to $22,500 at the World Championship Level!

Essay Contest 2025-2026

Topic:

"How My acts of Service Help me Understand What My Community Means to Me."

Deadline

Club Winners must be submitted to the District Level by 2/27/2026

Winner will read their Essay at the 3rd Quarter Meeting

Kutztown Univresity

Kutztown, PA

Entry Fee

There is a $15.00 Entry fee, made payable to OI Atlantic Central District

District Chair Contact Information

LaVera Seymour

480 Langdale Court

King of Prussia, PA 19406

Cell: 610-564-3281

Email: seymourla@outlook.com

Why Volunteer?

Volunteering not only benefits the organization and community, but also provides personal benefits such as building new skills, making new connections, and improving mental health. Join Atlantic Central District Optimist International and see the positive impact you can make.

2025-2026 Visual arts contest of the Atlantic Central Distri

Topic: TBD

This exciting competition is designed to encourage and celebrate youth visual art skills and gives the youth we serve another outlet for their creativity!

1/31/2026 visual Arts Competition winners to District Visual Arts Competition Chair.

3/1/26 Club Deadline to submit actual, physical artwork of the Club Winner(s) to Optimist International.

Submit Club Winner(s) with Club Level Entryy Form and picture of artwork/scan of artwork.

Please retain the original artwork to send to Optimist International.

1. Submit a copy of the Optimist Visual Arts Contest (ClubLevelEntryForm )for each artwork. Each Club may submit up to two (2) artworks per age division.

2.Submit a picture/scan of the artwork. Please retain the original artwork to send to Optimist International

Entry Fee:

Each Club can submit up to two (2) artworks per age division.

There are two age divisions: up to 7 years of age and 8-11 years of age. Artist must be age eleven or lower as of October 1, 2025.

There is a $5.00 entry fee per artwork entry submitted. *Fee can be submitted to the Atlantic Central District

0 ZELLE to webmaster@optimist-ac.org
0 PayPal to Atlantic Central District Optimist International

District Competition:

Voting takes place at the Second Quarter Meeting on February 22nd.

Lancaster Bible School

Lancaster, PA.

It is planned that the District Competition will award cash prizes of $100, $75, and $50 for the age division winners.

Submit each entry to Chair Cynthia Monroe

529 Shearer Street; North Wales, PA 19454

h: (215) 699-4554
c: (267) 324-2154
alaskannorthstar@aol.com

Atlantic Central District Optimist International, our mission is to provide volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups to give back to their communities and make a positive impact.

Visual Arts Contest Optimist International

Optimist International Presents:

THE OPTIMIST VISUAL ARTS COMPETITION!

Guidelines

The contest will be held at the Club level and International level. The topic this year is TBD
Club level judging may be by Club Members, professional artists/ instructors, or by public voting.
The project for the Visual Arts Competition shall be the creation of a set of twelve note cards and envelopes.
Artist must be age eleven or lower as of October 1, 2025
There are two age divisions: up to 7 years of age and 8-11 years of age. Art for six notecards will be selected from each age division.
Clubs may provide awards to participants and winners at the local level.
Artwork must be created on 11" wide x 8.5" high paper
or construction paper.
Actual, physical artwork of the Club winner(s) must be submitted to OI no later than March 1, 2026. Do not fold the artwork, and be sure to protect the artwork by placing it between two pieces of thin cardboard before placing it inside of a large envelope. Mark the outside of the envelope with the words, "DO NOT BEND".
Send to Optimist International, c/o Marketing, 4494 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
Voting will be done March 15-30, 2026.
There will be a monetary award for 13 OI winners, one for the image
selected to go on the cover and one image selected for each notecard.

10. At the International level, the 12 winners will receive a $150 monetary award; the winner of the cover will receive an additional $100 monetary award.

11. The notecards will be available for sale as early as June 30, 2026 at the International Convention in Jacksonville, Florida Jun 28 -July 2, 206.

Head to optimist.org for the entry form.