2021-2022 Paragon 4th Grade Essay Contest
Last year’s school year is over and after the last few years with Covid and on-line learning, our essay contest was a great success. The contest allows fourth graders to select a topic, from two provided, and practice their skills that were learned in school. The topics were: What is a problem that you as a fourth grader can help resolve; and what kind of a new animal could you discover. There were 264 entries from seven schools. The schools were St. Ann, Sacred Heart, Queen of Peace, Fairfield East, Riverside, Crawford Woods and Fairfield Compass.
The judges of the essays were members of the Paragon Optimist Club. This was very difficult since there were so many wonderful ideas suggested. There were many times the essays were read and reread. Once the winners were selected, they were awarded a certificate and cash prize. Each student who entered were given a piece of candy.
In awarding the winners, it was amazing to see the congratulations given to the winners by their fellow classmates. The surprise looks on the winner’s faces was memorable. This was a wonderful experience for the children and the adults involved. We cannot wait for this years contest entries to again be amazed.
Pat B.
Proudly Honoring and Remembering
It’s been too long since we’ve been able to gather and remember as a group. We are so glad to be back and next year we’ll bring more candy for the kids!
Being the Easter Bunny
It’s that time of year when we get together and assemble Easter baskets to be given out to kids in need. We want every kid to have a great holiday and feel that they’re important.
Help Us Help Kids!
We're trying to raise money and you could win money!!! It’s only $5 to enter the raffle and you could win $5,000–pretty nice return! This donation will help us help kids and provide school supplies, Christmas family gifts, Easter baskets, veterans homeless bags, food pantry supplies, and other charitable stuff.
This link should already have Paragon Optimist Club selected as the charity, but please make sure it does. http://piggestraffleever.com/?c=POC
There’s at least 3 main prizes:
GRAND PRIZE: $5,000 Cash
SECOND PRIZE: $2,500 Cash
THIRD PRIZE: Cincinnati Get-Away Experience ($1,500 in vouchers).
Thanks in advance for all you help. This will help us help local kids and give back to our community.
Well, We Are at It Again!
Each year the Paragon Optimist Club makes Easter baskets for deserving kids. The age range is from infants to preteen. We make any where from 100 to 150 baskets. One group needed the baskets earlier than usual. So we made 30 baskets.
A fun time was had selecting the stuffed animal, book, toys and candies that each basket held. It was hard not to eat the candy, especially the chocolate. (It's not like when you sneak some out of your kid's basket.)
We cannot wait to complete the rest. Shout out to Trish, Janet, Gloria, JoAnn and Pat.
Pat B.
School Days, School Days. Dear Old Golden Rule Days.
Many of the older generation heard this song when it was the beginning of the school year.
Many parents and children dread the beginning of the school year because it is hard to buy all the needed supplies.
When you have job loss, reduced work hours or loss of housing, school supplies are a hard items to buy. Once again the Paragon Club bought school supplies to donate.
This year we chose to donate the supplies to St Ann School.
The items donated are as follows:
49 packs of index cards,
260 pencils, 137erasers,
142 notebooks,
25 paper towels,
19 disinfecting wipes,
179 pens,
1 box storage bags,
17 packs of markers,
47 binders,
92 boxes of crayons,
129 glue sticks,
29 glue bottles,
15 packs of colored pencils,
160 mechanical pencils,
113 highlighters,
13 pencil cases,
4 rulers,
312 pocket folders,
5 scissors,
35 packs of dry erase markers,
33 pencil sharpeners,
14 boxes of tissues,
26 glue bottles,
60 composition notebooks,
80 mechanical pencils and
2 bottles of hand sanitizer.
Pat B
Because We Want to Help – 1st Quarter
During this time of isolation, it is hard for clubs that do service, to take any action. Schools are closed or not allowing visitors. Physical items cannot be donated to shelters because of the contamination. We, the members of the Paragon Optimist Club have been able to do some activities. We have not been able to do our usual fun activities, but hopefully as 2021 opens more, we can be back too normal.
Pat B
What a year it has been. New ways of life due to COVID, loss of friends and loved ones, keeping a positive outlook and pushing through adversity. With all this going on Paragon perseveres in continuing our support of those less fortunate. Thanks to member generosity and help from our shopping elves we provided Christmas for eight children. Fairfield Optimist and Paragon Optimist clubs handed gifts out together to families. Santa was there with his elf. Parents and kids loved it. Santa had each child pick a gift to open. Sheer delight on their faces ripping the paper and excited to see what Santa brought them. Masks couldn't hide the smiles and appreciation from parents and grandparents. Not only did we provide for the kids we helped families forget their hardships for a little while. We are an amazing club and I wish everyone a safe and healthy 2021.
Paula B
For several years we have assisted Trinity Lutheran Church in Mt. Healthy with their community outreach program "Feed Your Neighbor." Normally we purchase, cook and serve healthy hot meals to neighbors seated in the building, and then helped clean up. Since the money was donated by members at our meetings and all our meetings are now virtual thanks to COVID-19, we now purchase food paid for by the church. On January 28, we cooked, packaged and bagged it. Church members then distribute it safely to the waiting families. We still cleaned up whatever mess we made. We serve between 80-130 meals each time to community families. We've been told that our meals are some of the best they get. While they miss, sitting in a warm church with others and being served piping hot meals, they are still very appreciative of the service.
Trish C
In the next few months, we will be working on several activities. We are working with the local schools to have fourth graders write an essay for our annual 4th Grade Essay Contest where winners receive prizes. We are collecting, sorting and filling Easter baskets to be delivered to those in need. We are also busy collecting items for our Paragon Pals bags that are donated to the homeless. We are still having meeting on Zoom and trying doing service because that is how we roll!
Pat B
2020 Pandemic (so far!)
When I started the year as President (2019-2020 year), I was so excited and couldn’t wait to hit the ground running on all the Paragon Optimist Club’s community service and fellowship activities. First quarter came and went in a flash, and we had so much fun and so many members attending meetings. Then we fell into second quarter and a global scare.
What do you do as a very active Optimist Club during a pandemic? You put your heads together and come up with a plan!
Plan A – a huge failure! We got on Facebook messenger but found out you can only have 8 members on at a time, so onto another plan. After all isn’t there some saying about you succeed by failing fast….
Plan B – a success! Since some of our members switched to working from home during this time, it was suggested we try Zoom. One of our members took the initiative to set it up, emailed the link to all members, and lo and behold we were able to resume meetings with fantastic member turnout!
These were not your typical meeting per se but a meeting nonetheless. We once again could take care of Optimist business however our entire event’s calendar became obsolete. We once again put our heads together to stay social. Some of the fun things we did after our meetings were: trivia, show & tell, funny story night and a pajama party.
Our Sergeant at Arms, Sally, made each Tuesday night just a little more interesting with over the top instructions for the next week’s meeting, such as wearing funky jewelry, funny hat, pajamas and purple clothing, to name a few.
We may miss being able to see each other in person, but we have been able to stay in touch and continue the great work we do as Optimists. The remote meetings have also given our Club a chance to see things in a different light. Each week we now open our homes to each other, which at times includes random pop-ins from their family and friends! We also learned the difficulties of speaking in unison when we try to recite the Optimist Creed at the end of our meetings. The video below is an example of our most recent attempt, which I must proudly admit we have really improved over these past few months…
When Ohio begins to reopen, we are looking forward to the day we can actually meet in person and once again become the Club I know we are.
What a year to be President!
Sharon B
It’s Not About Perfect Spelling or Grammar
Each year I can’t wait for the results of one of my favorite programs, the 4th Grade Essay Contest, to be announced. The Paragon Optimist Club submits topics to teachers in the area and asks the students to write their thoughts. This contest may be the first time these children are asked their opinions and feelings about something going on in their lives. The teachers educate the students that by writing an essay their thoughts matter and can be “heard” through the use of the written word.
And, it doesn’t have to be perfect to “win” a contest. I have helped judged this contest in the past, and some of the most memorable essays were not the ones with perfect grammar or spelling. The best ones are the ones that convey the kids’ message in a way that makes the reader take notice and think. Some of the essays I have read are heart breaking and some of them are comical. However, they all provide insight into how the future generation considers topics or wants to contribute to the world.
This year was more difficult than most I imagine with the advent of schools shutting down due to the COVID19 pandemic. The essay author I resonated with this year was a student that stated they wanted to be a teacher when they grow up because they “help lots of kids in all different ways.” And, it struck me, now more than ever we need to support and encourage students to be teachers. Living in Denver, CO, I have seen stories on the news about how much the students will be missing out on with no in person classes, and it isn’t just educational opportunities. There are schools that provide meals to their students, and teachers are worried about how their kids will eat if they aren’t getting the supplies provided by the school. During this difficult time, we see more teachers being creative in the way they not only educate, but also in how they encourage and support their students. It makes me wonder if through this pandemic whether more students will be inspired to be teachers as well because they see the dedication their own teachers have to them and their classmates.
Now more than ever, contests like the one our Club sponsor are important. It provides the students a safe place and opportunity to talk about their lives, thoughts, and opinions without having to worry about being graded on improper spelling or grammar. They are given the chance to creatively think about what they want to do or see in the future. And, during this time of pandemic, allowing and encouraging students to dream of their futures may be one of the best ways to overcome fear and isolation caused by COVID19. Listening to the dreams of tomorrow allows the thoughts of today to be filled with hope.
Lizzy S.
Smart Meetings
As President again,
I will try to keep away the pathogen.
No virus can keep us apart,
Because we’re too smart.
We Zoomed,
So virus you’re doomed!
Sharon B.
Optimists in April
April showers bring May flowers,
but this April brought so much more–
the Coronavirus, stay at home orders,
and masked visits to the grocery store!
But we are Optimists through and through–
we won’t let it get us down.
We’ll continue to be strong, we’ll meet by Zoom,
and keep all safe in our town
We’ll live by the Creed,
and pass it along, spreading our attitude.
We’ll be kind to all,
give them a smile and never ever be rude.
So check on your friends and family,
making sure they are doing alright.
Everyone needs to feel the love,
so please share your shining light!
Sally L.