Junior Optimist Clubs

There are three levels of Junior Optimist Clubs:

Elementary, middle school, and high school youth clubs

Youth Code (for Alpha Clubs)

I Promise to-

Honor my parents and those whom experience has made wise.

Respect the beliefs of others.

Value all my friendships and ensure they are true.

Treasurer and nurture my mind and body.

Be diligent and work at each task according to its importance.

Strive to be courteous at all times and truthful with everyone I meet.

Manage my money wisely and control materialism.

Respect all living things and help maintain the balance of life.

Work to become independent, always think for myself, set high goals in life and dedicate myself to the service of others

High School Junior Optimist Clubs

**We have a junior club at Central York High School led by Advisors Tara Goodrich and Rachel Grove.

We are seeking more Junior Optimist Clubs. Each new club is sponsored by the adult Optimist Club to begin. Each club determines the needs of their school and their community and designs projects and programs to support those needs. The adult club is there is provide guidance and support to the Junior clubs. Middle school and high school clubs learn the Optimist Creed.

Upcoming Opportunities:

Optimist International Essay Contest

The topic is "How My Acts of Service Help Me Understand What My Community Means to Me."

Our sponsor for this year's contest is YoCo Electric, 3337 N. George Street, Emigsville. Owner is Austin Boop. Their phone number is 717-741-3377.

Please see your school counseling office for details and forms.

Scholarships are awarded on a local and district level to the winners. The length of the essay is 700-800 words and the deadline to deliver the essay to your school counseling office is November 18, 2025. The essay must also be posted to: yorkoptimists@gmail.com so it can be checked for plagerism. We hope to receive many entries.

Optimist Photography Contest

Students select a line from the Optimist Creed and then take a picture that supports the line they chose. Lehman Volvo, 950 N. Hills Road, York is helping to sponsor this contest. Robert Baker, an Optimist member and sales representative for Lehman Volvo can be reached at 717-755-7676 ext. 111. Students may submit up to three photos, all 5 x 7. Each photo must be taken by the student in the last 12 months and indicate the date, location, city and state on the back of the photo. The forms are in the school counseling department at each school. More details are provided on the forms. The deadline to have your photograph(s) to your school counseling department is November 18, 2025.

Optimist International Visual Arts Contest

The topic for the picture is "Be Bold-Be the Change." There are two age levels- 7 and under nd 8-11. All pictures must be landscape orientation; not portrait. There will be three winners on the local and district level for each age group. The top six local winners will have their pictures sent to Optimist International where 12 winners will be chosen. There are financial rewards at each level. Please see your Art teacher for the details. Information was sent to each high school school counseling office and we ask them to forward the information to all their elementary schools. Deadline is Tuesday, November 18, 2025. It is the responsibility of the Art teacher to contact the chairperson, Connie Sohnleitner, conniesohn@comcast.net, with the number of entries.

The Community Junior Optimist Club of York County helped at the Children's Home of York Bike Rally fundraiser. The members handed out bananas and water to the riders. Another great opportunity to support their community!