Avon Optimist Club Announces Oratorical Contest Winner

Avon High School student Jay Desai is the winner of the Avon Optimist Club's 2026 Oratorical Contest. The following is a lightly edited press release from the Optimist Club.

Update: Jay and Aliyah have advanced to the Indiana South District Optimist Oratorical Finals

Avon, Indiana – Jay Desai, a student at Avon High School, recently won the Optimist Club of Avon’s Oratorical contest based on his speech on the topic of 'The Moment I Realized I Belonged-My Definition of Community'.

Jay was awarded the 1st place medal for the honor. Winning the 2nd place medal was Aliyah Olayinka. In third place was Doyin Akande. All three are students at Avon High School. Each were awarded medals and cash awards. In addition, Jay and Aliyah will represent the Avon Optimist Club, Avon High School, and all of Avon at the Regional level where they will compete against winners from other Optimist Clubs in the area. The Regional will be held at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library (543 Indiana Ave, Indianapolis) on March 8 at 2:00 pm. The public is invited to view the contest.

The winner of the Regional competition will be sent to the District level (to be held at Kimball International Headquarters,1600 Royal Street in Jasper, Indiana) on April 18 with the chance to win a $2500 scholarship, and then possibly onto the Optimist International Regional/World Championship for a chance to win an additional $5,000 or up to another $15,000 scholarship.

“Jay, Aliyah, and Doyin did wonderful jobs presenting their speeches about the topic posed to them,” Club President John Haselden said. “The members of our Optimist Club have no doubt that all three have bright futures ahead for them."

The Optimist Club of Avon has been participating in the Optimist Oratorical Contest for many years and has been active in the community since 1959. Other programs and service projects that the Club participates in include an Essay contest, Central Indiana Woodworkers, Handicapable Camp, Distinguished Young Women, Junior World Golf, and others. We offer a $2,000 Scholarship for students seeking a two-year or vocational degree. We also support several organizations in our community.

Optimist International is one of the world’s largest service club organizations with over 80,000 adult and youth members in almost 3,000 clubs in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico, and throughout the world. The Optimist Oratorical Contest is one of the organization’s most popular programs, with more than 2,000 clubs participating annually. Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Youth, in our Communities, and in Ourselves,” Optimists conduct positive service projects that reach more than six million young people each year. To learn more about Optimist International, please call (314) 371-6000 or visit optimist.org.