Ada’s oldest competitive event is not played on the athletic field. Rather, in the auditorium.

On March 21, the 108th annual Interclass Contest, founded in 1907, played itself out as it had 107 times prior. Seniors, juniors and sophomore competed in four categories: Essay, Poetry, Short Stories, and Dramatic Readings.

PHOTOS OF ALL CONTESTANTS ARE IN AN
ATTACHMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.

Individuals from each class vied for first, second and third places in the four categories. Their points combined with their own classmates to determine an overall class winner. Matthew Wilcox of the Student Council was the evening’s master of ceremonies.

The winners:
• Overall class winner: Seniors, 895 points

Essays:
First – Emmelina Bales, junior, “Selfies”
Second – Jessica Hill, senior, “The Lesser Race”
Third – Mackenzie Wills, sophomore, “The Pharmaceutical Industry”

Poetry
First – Allison Howard, junior, “All At Once”
Second – Annabel Pinkney, senior, “Perspective”
Third – Benjamin Bowers, sophomore, “A Dreamer’s Philosophy”

Short Story
First – Cole Tabor, senior, “In the End”
Second – Sydney Hartford, sophomore, “The Lucky Ones”
Third – Steven Gray, junior, “An unusual Convention”

Dramatic Reading
First – Emily Keckler, senior, “31 to be Exact,” by Jannette…ikz
Second – Blake Willeke, sophomore, “So God Created a Farmer,” by Paul Harvey
Third – Noah Beach, junior, “Bane’s Blackgate Prison Speech,” taken from “The Dark Knight Rises”

Two intermissions took place. During the first, members of the high school staff presented “De-Evolution of Dance.” During the second, members of the senior class presented “Room 224” (A True Story).

This year’s judges were:
Amanda Bennett, director, Ada Public Library
Scott Rogers, professor, English Department, Ohio Northern University
Fred Steiner, Ada Icon