The Owensboro Noon Optimist Club honored a dozen high-achieving students from six local high schools during its annual Youth Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday at Briarpatch Restaurant.
Each year, the club recognizes one male and one female student from Apollo, Daviess County, Owensboro, Owensboro Catholic, Trinity, and Owensboro Innovation Academy. The award is based not only on academic success, but also on student involvement in school activities and service to the community.
“This has been going on since at least the 1970s,” said Club President Scott Dodson. “I joined in 1988, and it was already well in place. It’s about more than grades. These kids are involved — National Honor Society, student council, basketball teams — and they’re giving back through charity work. The counselors at each school select the recipients based on those criteria.”
This year’s honorees were Morgan Shook and William “Xander” Berry from Apollo High School; Emma Schmitt and Ben Watkins from Daviess County High School; Karis Colbert and Zachary Peerman from Owensboro Catholic High School; Emerson Edge and Thomas Jarboe from Trinity High School; Samuel Busse and Reese Boswell from Owensboro High School; and Cole Rummage and Mack Elkins from Owensboro Innovation Academy.
Dodson said the event not only celebrates student excellence but also brings together families, educators, and community leaders. Parents and counselors were invited to attend and share in the recognition.
“They’ll hear their bios read aloud — what they’ve accomplished, who they are — and they’ll get to be celebrated in front of everyone,” Dodson said. “It’s truly one of the most special things we do.”
The keynote speaker was Kirk Kirkpatrick, who has spoken at the luncheon for several years. His address included a story about a childhood failure that taught him a lesson about preparation and resilience.
In middle school, Kirkpatrick competed in the Optimist Club’s oratorical contest. When it was his turn to speak, he stepped up and began, “My view on optimism is…” only to freeze in front of the audience. After being asked to sit and return at the end, he tried again — and succeeded.
“I’ve never been as embarrassed in my life,” Kirkpatrick said. “But from that moment forward, I made a promise to myself that I would always be prepared if I ever had to speak in front of people again. That lesson changed my life.”
He said that’s the value of events like these, shaping young people through encouragement and challenge.
“They don’t know each other yet, but they’ll meet today, and they’ll see there are other people like them who care about making a difference,” he said.
Brian Hedges, a longtime Optimist Club member, said that while the civic group has scaled back other programs in recent years, Youth Appreciation Day remains its cornerstone.
“As a small civic club, we’ve had to pare down a lot of what we do,” Hedges said. “But this is the one thing we’ve never let go of. We pool all our resources for this event, because it’s that important.”
Hedges said the event also encourages students to carry optimism forward into their lives and careers, even writing about it in college admissions essays.
“If they just take the Optimist Creed with them, they’ll have done a good thing,” he said. “That’s what we live by.”
