DAPHNE, Ala.—For a couple of hours Thursday night, tomorrow’s leaders gathered with the leaders of today to share stories of success, determination and perseverance.

A newly-formed Optimist Club of Daphne held its inaugural “Daphne Youth Appreciation” ceremony, in which students from six Daphne schools were honored for their achievements.

In a production at the Community Life Center at the Daphne United Methodist Church, state and local politicians, city employees and business owners presented awards to the honored students.

Each presenter shared a story of the student’s success, retelling tales of athletic prowess, academic achievement and overcoming personal adversity, including battling a life-threatening heart condition.

Daphne High senior Amberly Landis had a heart condition that kept her homebound for four months. During that span, she gained nearly 40 pounds as a result of a reaction to medication. Still, that did not keep her from continuing her studies and maintaining a 3.9 GPA.

A list of award winners is as follows:

Inspiration for the program came from Optimist Club member Ben Spencer, who saw a need for the city’s youth to be honored and for the community to gather in appreciation of their achievements.

“Back around Christmas time, I was noticing all the negative things in the paper,” he said. “On Feb. 8, I wrote in my notebook, ‘Can we have a Youth Appreciation program?””

The answer, undeniably, was yes, he said.

Spencer then wrote a letter to school principals and asked each to select a student who excelled in academics, sportsmanship and citizenship.

“We told (the principals) to write a letter saying why each student was nominated,” he said. “I thought they did a tremendous job.”

Spencer added that the objective of the Youth Appreciation program is inspire other students to achieve as their peers have, so they, too, can be recognized for outstanding achievement.

“We don’t expect this to be world-changing,” he said. “We’re in some tough times right now so we’re doing what we can to make Daphne a better place.”

Spencer said the basis of an Optimist Club is to respond to a need in the community.

“That’s what Optimists do,” he said.

“These students tonight have restored our faith in the community,” he added. “These kids have been doing this all along; we just wanted to shine a light on them.”

The Optimist Club will hold its initial meeting at 7 a.m. Tuesday in the Community Life Center at Daphne United Methodist Church.