SHS Senior, Madalyn Lobmeyer’s Essay Wins State Optimist Essay Contest-Wins $2500 Scholarship
Launch the media gallery 1 playerSHS Seniors, Madalyn Lobmeyer was notified that her essay was selected the top essay in the State 2020 Optimist Club Essay Contest. She entered the essay contest and her essay was selected to be named the First Place Essay in the State Optimist contest and a $2500 scholarship-sponsored by the Seward Optimist Club. Interestingly, as a Sophomore, Madalyn was also selected the First Place winner in the Optimist State Oratorical/Speech Contest and also won a $2500 scholarship and competed at the National Optimist Speech Contest in St. Louis.
Madalyn was representing the Seward Optimist Club, winning First Place on the local level. She is the daughter of Jonathan and Amy Lobmeyer of Seward. She plans to attend the University of Nebraska this fall. She qualified for the State Contest sponsored by the Nebraska Optimist Clubs. Lana Urban, with the Seward Optimist Club, is the 2020 State Optimist Essay Contest chairman.
“We are very proud of Madalyn and she is a special person to our Optimist Club!” stated Seward Optimist Member Lana Urban. “This is the first time a student from Seward has won the state essay contest and it is very rare that the same student wins both the Optimist Speech and Optimist Essay contests sponsored by the Nebraska Optimists! She has a total of $5000 in cash scholarships from the Nebraska Optimists as a result of her hard work and insight and we wish her well with her college career!”
She won a medal, certificate and a $2500 scholarship from Optimist International and the Nebraska Optimists.
She wrote a 750 word essay on the topic “Is Optimism the Key to Achieving the Dreams you iMagine?” The students each prepared their paper to have it read by the judge’s at the State Level. There are 18 state finalists in the Nebraska contest.
Other state finalists were SHS seniors Garrett Erickson and Cordell Vrbka, both qualifying and representing other Optimist Clubs with their essays.
The local Seward High liaison with the Seward Optimist Club essay contest is Melissa Pohl, SHS English teacher. Clark Kolterman serves as the local Seward Optimist Club Essay Chair.