Jamestown High School seniors William Karr and Grayson Holt were the top two winners at the Zone Level of the Optimist Oratorical Contest held in Lockport, New York. They are headed to Utica in April to compete against all of New York state and New England.

JHS seniors Grayson Holt and William Karr were the top two winners at the Zone Level of the Optimist Oratorical Contest held in Lockport.

They will move to the next level of competition and compete against all the other winners in New York State and New England in Utica on April 27.

The topic for this year’s memorized, four to five-minute speech was: “Is there a fine line between optimism and reality?”

“During my speech, I felt surprisingly confident,” added Karr. “Mrs. Price really prepared us with specifics of what to expect. When I was giving my speech, so many thoughts we’re going through my mind. It’s really more about how the speaker delivers his speech through gestures, eye contact, vocal variation, pacing, and passion. During my speech, I kept reminding myself to check every one of these boxes.”

Holt said, “The Optimist Oratorical Contest is an amazing opportunity for me to speak on a topic that is vitally important to me because optimism motivates me to do my best in any situation. Public Speaking is a critical but often neglected skill. Having a teacher as competent and passionate as Mrs. Price, I believe, will give me the necessary resources to do well in the following rounds of competition.

Price remarked, “Delivering speeches before a panel of objective evaluators is a valuable ‘real life’ experience, and Grayson and William are ready to compete at this next level of competition.”

The ultimate prize is a $22,000 college scholarship.