Article content A West Elgin Secondary School student has been awarded for writing the winning essay in a local contest. Paige Doherty won $200 and a certificate from the West Lorne Optimist Club, which runs the contest every year. Doherty’s essay, which was on a topic called Reaching your Dreams by Choosing Optimism, will be entered in a district level competition for a $2,500 prize. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser. She will be moving on to post-secondary education at the University of Guelph. The club’s contest is open to secondary students 18 and under as of Oct. 1 of the current Optimist International contest year.