• About
  • Contact

Virginia Municipal League

Building Better Communities Through Sound Government

BETTER COMMUNITIES THROUGH SOUND GOVERNMENT

  • Organization
    • About the League
      • Strategic vision and goals
      • Benefits of VML Membership
      • Directions to the VML office
    • Board of Directors
      • Executive Meeting Packets
      • Serving on the Executive Board
      • VML Past Presidents
    • League Staff
    • Local Government Members
      • Benefits of VML Membership
    • Affiliate Organizations
    • VML/VACo APCO Steering Committee
      • VML/VACO APCo Steering Committee Board
    • Partners
  • Member Resources
    • ARPA Resources
    • Publications
    • Presentations
    • General Forum
    • Account
    • Reset Password
  • Education
    • Events >
      • 2023 Local Government Day
      • Virginia Local Elected Officials Conference
      • Annual Conference >
        • 2022 Annual Conference
        • 2021 Annual Conference
        • 2020 Annual Conference
        • Past Annual Conference Programs
        • Future Conference Dates
      • Virginia Mayors Institute >
        • 2022 Virginia Mayors Institute
        • 2021 Virginia Mayors Institute
        • 2020 Virginia Mayors Institute
      • 2022 Hurricane Season Briefing
      • ARPA Monitoring & Reporting Compliance Webinar
    • Essay Contest
      • Essay Contest Past Winners
    • Civility. Respect. Solutions.
    • American Rescue Plan Act Resources
    • Innovation Awards
      • Innovation Award Past Winners
    • Racial Inequality – Local Statements
    • Wallerstein Scholarship
  • Advocacy
    • 2023 General Assembly
      • 2022 GA Resources
      • 2021 GA Resources
    • 2023 Local Government Day
      • 2022 Local Government Day
      • 2021 Local Government Day
    • Legislative Committee
    • Legislative Program
    • Policy Committees
      • Community & Economic Development
      • Finance
      • General Laws
      • Human Development & Education
      • Infrastructure, Transportation & Environmental Quality
    • Policy Statements
  • Media
    • VTC Magazine
    • eNews Newsletter
    • VML Voice Podcast
      • Subscribe: The VML Voice
    • Get the VML APP
    • Legal Resources
    • Local Officials’ Resources Series
    • Other Publications
    • News Releases
  • Calendar
  • Classifieds
    • Job Openings
    • Create Jobs
  • Business Engagement
    • Community Business Membership
      • Community Business Members Listings
    • Advertising with VML
Home / Winners of ‘If I Were Mayor’ state essay contest announced

Winners of ‘If I Were Mayor’ state essay contest announced

For Immediate Release: March 1, 2018
Contact: Manuel Timbreza, Communications Specialist

Winners of ‘If I Were Mayor’ state essay contest announced

The Virginia Municipal League announced today the statewide winner and seven regional winners of the “If I Were Mayor” Essay Contest. The contest, hosted by VML, drew more than 1,000 entries from seventh graders throughout the state. The challenge to the students was to describe what they would do if they were mayor of their hometown. The winners are:

  • Statewide winner: Jalia Hardy of Binford Middle School in Richmond (also Region 7 winner)
  • Region 1: Bryleigh Middleton of Pennington Middle School in Pennington Gap
  • Region 2: Kaydence Addison of Dalton Intermediate School in Radford
  • Region 3: Will Schwantes of Daniel Morgan Middle School in Winchester
  • Region 4: Catherine Selfridge of Buckingham Middle School in Buckingham
  • Region 5: Gideon DeMarco of Lanier Middle School in Fairfax
  • Region 6: Maeve Myers of Louisa County Middle School in Mineral
  • Region 8: Tina Li of the Academy for Discovery at Lakewood in Norfolk

As one of the judges for the contest said: “All of the regional winners demonstrated a remarkable level of maturity in their essays!  I was very impressed with their concerns for their communities and how thoughtful they are in developing well organized, considerate solutions.”

Of the winning entry from Jalia Hardy of Binford Middle School, Richmond, a judge said: “Her concern for her community came through her essay with her focus on youth empowerment, education and care for the homeless.  I was also impressed with her expression to listen to others and her reference to helping ‘our city’.

“The regional winners and statewide winner make up a very impressive group of young people – our teachers and parents should be proud!  Our state is in good hands with our young people!”

In addition to a framed certificate, each regional winner will receive a check for $150. The statewide winner will receive a certificate and $250.

Plans for presentation of the plaques and checks are forthcoming.

All winning essays can be read at https://vml.org/education/essay-contest/

 


About VML’s “If I Were Mayor” Essay Contest

The annual “If I were Mayor Contest” invites seventh graders from throughout Virginia to submit essays describing what they would do if they were mayor of their hometown. Entries are due around December 1 each year. The essay contest is a key component of VML’s civic education programming, which seeks to teach schoolchildren and adults how local government works and how they can become involved in making their communities better places to live, work and play.

 

About VML

The Virginia Municipal League is a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of local governments established in 1905 to improve and assist local governments through legislative advocacy, research, education and other services. See www.vml.org.

  • eNews
  • Town and City
  • Subscribe: The VML Voice
  • Legal Resources
  • Local Officials’ Resources Series
  • Other publications
  • News Releases
Comments and questions about this website or the data provided may be addressed to Manuel Timbreza
©2023 Virginia Municipal League
Virginia Municipal League
P.O. Box 12164, Richmond, VA 23241
13 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219
804-649-8471

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Terms and Conditions