Maryville Middle School students place in Regional Optimist Oratorical Contest

Two Maryville Middle School students, Tessa Mayne and Faye Hornickle, traveled to Adrian, April 13 to compete in the Regional Oratorical Contest.

With seven students in competition, the two middle school students placed second and third place. The first place winner was from Raymore-Peculiar High School, and the other participants represented Adrian High School, Odessa High School, Helias High School in Jefferson City and St. Joseph Central High School.

“This was an amazing win for these young women who competed against much older students. Mrs. Marty Nolte, the librarian at the Maryville Middle School, deserves so much credit for challenging younger students to write and memorize a 4-5 minute speech around the theme, ‘How to Change the World with Optimism.’ In fact, Mrs. Nolte had so many students interested in the project that she had to have a middle school contest, The Maryville Optimist Club is thankful for her enthusiasm and motivation,” noted Trudy Kinman, Maryville Optimist president.

The “top 2” winners from the regional contest advance to the District finals on May 11 at Osage Beach. Mayne, a seventh grader, gets to advance. However, Hornickle, a sixth grader, is the first alternate. Mayne is the daughter of Chad and Kortney Mayne. Hornickle is the daughter of Mark and Kati Hornickle.

The winner at the district contest receives a $2,500 scholarship and continues to the World Finals in St. Louis on July 18-19. Districts also provide a second place scholarship of $1,500, and a third place scholarship of $1,000. Maryville Optimists have sponsored two contestants to the International World Championships, Makayla Jones in 2018 and Noel Hardin in 2021.