Zach Gilburne is the winner of the 2012 "If I Were Mayor..." essay contest. Here is a copy of his award-winning essay:
----------------------------------------------
If I were mayor I would make after school more fun for middle school students. I think that an after school center would benefit us because so many kids go to Safeway after school and disrupt things there. It would also give kids a safe fun place to hang out and work. An ideal place would be somewhere about the size of a Blockbuster store and one story high.
The most important part would be the cafe. This is because so many kids need snacks after school to keep them going till dinner. I think the cafe should serve a wide variety of healthy choices. You should also be allowed to do homework there. That way, kids could be more productive by eating and working at the same time.
Many kids like video games. I like them, the kid who sat next to me while I wrote this likes them. Games would give people a different thing to do other than homework. In the center of the room there would be a game cabinet with different games. There would also be sound proofing so noise will not disturb other kids in the building. I would prefer if the consoles were PS3’s, Xbox 360’s and Wii’s.
A room called the activity room would provide another choice. The room would have board games and books and maybe Lego’s. You could also do homework here. Multiple power sockets would be here so kids could charge their electronic devices. This should have a calm atmosphere so jazz music could be playing from speakers.
I also would prohibit bad language and bullying. There would be a parent volunteer to supervise and help when needed.
That is what I would do if I was mayor to help make the city a better place.