Sophomore Morgan Oneka took first place in the competition with her essay about decorating all the band students’ lockers last year.

“No one had ever decorated all of their lockers like they do for other extra-curricular activities, so my friend and I did just that,” Oneka said.

Oneka’s winning essay will be moving on to the next level of the essay contest to compete against other national optimist clubs, and she will be able to find out her standing in the contest in two weeks.

“I really didn’t think my essay was all that good,” Oneka said. “I was surprised to find out that I had won; it wasn’t something I expected to happen.”

The other two winning competitors were sophomore Bethany Vaughn, taking second and senior Emily Grevel, who placed third.

English teacher Brent Green is the adviser of the optimist group that meets at Shores.

“All three girls have shown me their skills in the past, so I was not surprised to see them do well,” Green said.