by Anthonette Klinkerman and Mayor Maureen Shul

Giving local students the topic “If I were Mayor for a Day” as an essay contest seemed certain to generate some creative ideas. What arrived were thoughtful and well-constructed responses, most of which were concerned with safety for pedestrians and the health and fitness of all age groups.

The summer essay contest was sent to all area CPN schools. All of the entries received came from American Academy. Mayor Maureen Shul was inundated with responses, all neatly typed, and had a delightful time reading through each one. Here is a sampling of her favorites:

“If I were mayor for a day, I would try to convince everyone that I should be mayor for one more day.” – Rebecca Jewell

“There are many people in the Metro Area that are homeless or struggling. Even though that is not the Castle Pines area, as a community there would be several projects on helping feed and help the homeless and the struggling.” – Reese Yale

“If I was mayor of the day it would be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I would be honest and serve Castle Pines all they want.” – Nirvan Jamshidi

“One problem I need is other people’s opinions. In that case I will take suggestions to make the city a better place.” – Mitchell Lauffer

“Another idea that I strongly believe in is that Castle Pines North should build a Rec Center for all the families and a library for all the students.” – Kelcey Beckman

“We need the water so that our hands are nice and clean.” – Trevor Cree

“Murderers will not be allowed to come inside the town.” – Mariah R. Diaz

“Another change I would make is the hours that landscapers and teachers work. I would change that because I have family members that come home very late at night. My father is a landscaper and he never has time to come home and play catch with me.” – Marissa Gibson

“We should have a free doctor’s office so that the people won’t have to travel so far. It would also save the citizens money. We should build it near King Soopers.” – Andrew Santos

“… you don’t want all the people walking around to look bored and make the town look bad, so you want recreation centers and parks.” – Matt Kramer

“The last thing I would do as mayor is have one annual day where no TV watching was allowed and everyone got together to read a book… This would also help cut down on the citizen’s electric bills and help their brains not turn to mush.” – Will Pieseski

“The first thing I would do as Mayor would be to open a LIBRARY… Also we could have a community book read.” – Trace P.

“We need firefighters to save the little kittens out of the trees.” – Savannah H. Heebner

And Mayor Shul’s personal favorite? “Whoever had the crown got to tell other people what to do. It was like being a queen, or a mayor like the one for Castle Pines North.” – Emma Marshall.

“Every time I’m asked to give a talk about being mayor, I share Emma’s delightful thoughts before describing what it’s really like,” Shul stated.

All of the essays displayed a tremendous understanding of some of the decisions a mayor must make on a daily basis. The overall best essay for its sentence fluency and organization, as well as a touching expression of compassion, was by Gabriela Porras of American Academy. Her essay will be featured online. Be sure to read it at the Castle Pines North Homepage, www.cpnhoa.org.

Mayor Shul will plan a pizza party for all of the essay writers this fall. Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who entered the contest.