The Optimist Club of Washington recently awarded scholarships for $1,500 to four local high school seniors for their community service and achievements. The club also named its 2015 Optimist Club Essay Contest winner.

The club held it annual scholarship banquet May 19 where the 2015 Optimist Club of Washington Scholarship winners were recognized. Each recipient received a $1,500 scholarship. Among the winners were: Riley Ward, who received the Youth Appreciation scholarship and plans to attend Western Carolina University and major in nursing; Warner Little, who received the Linley Gibbs Scholarship and plans to attend a four-year university and major in communications; Laura Whittington, who received the Earl Mitchell Scholarship and plans to attend East Carolina University and major in nursing; and William Page, who received the Optimist Youth Appreciation Scholarship and plans to attend University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and major in business or economics.

According to Patty Peebles, Optimist Club of Washington president, the four scholarships are given annually to high school seniors in recognition of their community service.

OPTIMIST CLUB OF WASHINGTON

The club looks at several different things when selecting its scholarship recipients including community service, accomplishments, extracurricular activities and grade-point average, Peebles said. Recipients must have at least a 2.5 GPA and have played a sport at some point in their lives. The applicants review the club’s creed and are required to write a personal essay describing how they can apply that to their lives as well as how they apply those principles in their day to day lives.

Peebles said the scholarship applicants are reviewed by people who are not local and don’t know the students personally.

“Each of the winners were very deserving, and they each had contributed a lot to the community,” Peebles said. “They were exceptional in their service they gave back to their school and their community. The motto of the club is friend of youth, and this is something we can do to help children in our community to go to college and help pay for some of their college.”

Page was also recognized as the club’s essay contest winner for 2015, receiving a $250 scholarship, according to Janice Labarbera, event chair for the club. The contest, given through Optimist International, provided contestants with a topic to write about, which was “Why Should Optimism be a Priority?”

Page wrote about the benefits of optimism and how it is something that everyone should strive for every day because it’s more beneficial to success than looking at things in a negative manner, he said. He also talked about keeping a positive mindset in believing one can achieve whatever one sets his or her mind to. Page’s essay was also submitted to the Optimist NC East Regional where he placed third out of 16 entrees. For third place, Page was given a plaque, he said.

“I guess (optimism) kind of reflected in my essay, and I guess they liked it,” Page said. “I think it was a good experience.” “Optimism isn’t always something that people think about or people strive for so I think it was cool to go to a regional competition and see how other people view it and how they see it as a benefit and how optimism isn’t something that should always be put as an afterthought. It’s always good to get scholarship money because it helps with higher education.”