Oratorical Scholarship Contest

The Optimist Oratorical Contest gives youngsters the chance to speak to the world. First conducted in 1928, this is the second most popular Optimist International Program. Nearly 2,000 clubs participate in this program each year.

In the Optimist Club of Huntsville contest in addition to a medallion, the top three winners receive $500, $300, and $100 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively. The first place winner at the Club level will advance to the Zone contest. The Zone consists of three clubs in Huntsville and one in Ft. Payne. The first place winner from the Zone contest will advance to the North Alabama Regional Contest. The first place winner from the Regional Contest will then advance to the Alabama-Mississippi District contest to compete for the college scholarships.

At the District level three scholarships are awarded, $2,500 for 1st Place; $1500 for 2nd Place; and $1000 for 3rd Place.

The District-level scholarships are funded by the Optimist International Foundation.

The Optimist Oratorical World Championships will be in June of 2025. The District will send their 1st place winner to St. Louis to compete with the winners of the other Districts in our Optimist International Region for a scholarship valued at $5000. The winner of each Optimist International Region (eight winners total) will then compete with the winner from St. Louis University’s Global Region for a $15,000, $10,000, or $5,000 World Championship scholarship. There is the potential for a student to win up to $22,500 in scholarships!