Tamara McConnell 

Writer

The junior class at Marlow High School recently had an opportunity to earn an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D. C. through the Cotton Electric Essay Contest.

The essay contest is run by the Cotton Electric Co-Op, an electric utility company based in over eight counties across Southwest Oklahoma. 

In the contest, students must write an original composition about what they found most interesting about electric companies. 

Students’ essays were then sent to a panel of judges, where the panel decided on which twenty-five students across the eight counties would proceed to round two. 

Composing over half of the competition, thirteen Marlow students were chosen to advance to round two where they would receive a personal interview with the judges. 

Out of the twenty-five students overall, ten students then moved forward to round three – the speech portion of the contest. 

Round three saw six Marlow students participate, and a final four were chosen from the top ten contestants to receive a trip to Washington D.C.

Winning the once-in-a-lifetime experience, juniors Savanah Triplett and Olivia Cantwell won the opportunity to travel with two others, Walters’ Hailey Franklin and Comanche’s Marlon Banner, to the White House.

Traveling such a long distance for the first time, Triplett described her excitement for the trip.

“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity,’ Triplett said. “I had to be more and more creative each round, so it is nice to see it pay off..”

Giving advice for future juniors of MHS, Cantwell expressed that hard work pays off.

“You should definitely give your best attempt on the essays,” Cantwell said. “You may not want to do it just because of the fact that it was required rather than optional, but it really is worth the effort.” The four students will depart for Washington D.C. on June 19 and will return home on June 25.