Andrew Peturis, a sophomore from Daphne High School and Monica Mitta, a sophomore from Fairhope High School, were the winners of the Regional Optimist Club Oratorical Contest held last Saturday at the Loxley Town Hall.

Both students were sponsored by the Daphne Optimist Club and had previously won the Club and Zone level of the competition to get to the Regionals.

The topic this year was “If I were leader of the free world, the first issue I would address would be…” and they both will advance to the AL-LA-MS District Finals held in Shreveport, La., on Saturday, April 30.

The winners of that competition will earn a $2,500 scholarship to the school of their choice. Other contestants were Anthony Brown and Jasmine Brown from Central Montgomery Optimist Club and Caleb Smith and Carly Riek from the Mobile Optimist Club.

Judges for the contest were Charlotte Thigpen, Judge Michelle Thomason and Joey Knight.

The contest is open to all students under the age of 16 and they are required to prepare a four to five minute speech on an assigned topic. This contest is designed to assist youth in gaining public speaking experience and provide an opportunity to compete for a scholarship.Peturis