News Release

WARSAW — The annual Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Essay Contest is an opportunity for K-12 students to be rewarded for insightful written essays. This year’s essay topic is, “Who is an every day hero that brings out the optimist in you?”

The contest began Oct. 1 and will end at noon Friday, Feb. 3. The sooner essays are completed and submitted the better, as submissions are capped at 20 contestants.

The only rules are:

• The contestant must be under the age of 19 and enrolled as a K-12 student in Kosciusko County.
• The essay must be original and written with limited guidance from others.
• The essay must be between 700 and 800 words.

There will also be a specific format provided for students to follow while writing.

Essays will be graded by material organization, creativity, vocabulary and style, grammar, punctuation, spelling and format. The contest will be judged by a panel of three impartial judges. Each entry is anonymized to ensure fair judging.

A cash prize of at least $50 to $200 will be awarded to the students with the top three essays. The winner of the local club contest will also advance to the district scholarship competition.

The official application can be found here.