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About MMA MMA News MMA honors 2008 student essay winners
Red Sox Nation President Jerry Remy and 450 local officials honored Sam Walters of Orleans, the winner of the MMA’s second annual Sixth Grade Student Essay Contest, during the MMA Annual Meeting on Jan. 11 in Boston.
Walters, who attends the Nauset Regional Middle School, was chosen from among nearly 2,400 participating sixth graders as the first-prize winner.
Chesterfield Select Board Chair David Kielson, the outgoing MMA president, presented Walters with a certificate of achievement and a $300 savings bond. Walters also won dinner tickets for him and his family from the MMA and a complimentary one-night hotel stay from the Sheraton.
Remy, the Red Sox announcer who was the speaker for the dinner event, congratulated Walters and presented him with an autographed World Series scorecard.
Second place in the essay contest went to Matthew Fregeau, who attends the Wilmington Middle School and will receive a $150 savings bond. Third place finisher Bob Nigro, who attends the Parker Middle School in Reading, will receive a $100 savings bond.
All of the student essays began with the line: “If I were elected leader of my community I would make a difference by …”
Judging criteria were creativity, clarity/sincerity of thought, proper use of grammar, and an understanding of local government.
Judges were Easton Selectmen Chair Colleen Corona; Wilmington Assistant Town Manager Jeff Hull; Watertown Councillor Jonathan Hecht; and Dina Segal, Boston’s deputy director of inter-governmental relations.
Every student who submitted an essay will receive a small gift.
Winning student essays
First Place
Sam Walters, Nauset Regional Middle School, Orleans
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by making housing more affordable on Cape Cod.
Lack of affordable housing is really hurting the people of the Cape. It is a big problem because many people have to move to other places because they cannot afford to live here anymore. The non-affordable housing problem especially affects young people because unless they have a very successful career right off the bat or have a very wealthy family, they are not going to be able to afford living on Cape Cod.
This could also provoke another big problem. This problem could be that there would be no young people to support the Cape, no people to be firemen or police officers, teachers or builders, or many other jobs that mostly young people do. It’s like the life of the Cape would be gone, also affecting the people that are not young because there would be no one to support them or do the things they can’t.
I plan to solve this problem by reserving land from being built up by malls or expensive condos and build affordable housing for the people of the Cape, especially the younger people. Another way I could solve the affordable housing problem would be by having funds from the state or the federal government or maybe just from donations to help people afford housing that they normally couldn’t. These two things could definitely help the cause of affordable housing.
Making housing more affordable on the Cape is how I would make a difference if I was elected leader of my community.
Second Place
Matthew Fregeau, Wilmington Middle School, Wilmington
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by improving or building a new library. Our library was built in 1954, before there were computers or other technology. There is no more room in the library to put more books or computers. In this age of a technology explosion, there will be a greater need for more computer space in the future. So we need to get ready for the future.
The library as it exists now does not contain the resources to allow for future expansion. Therefore I would build a new library. I would raise the money for the new library by getting the town involved and get the people to give some donations. I would also ask for a federal grant to help us pay for the new building. The rest would be from town taxes. This would leave the present library building empty.
The empty library building could become a new town hall. In the past it was felt that all town buildings should be around the town common. In moving the town hall to the old library building, this would centralize our town government. The old town hall building could then be returned to a school so we don’t have to build another school.
There are many other little things we can do to improve our community, like better sports fields, picking up litter along roadsides and public places, and filling in potholes in streets. However, I feel that a new library should be considered first.
Third Place
Bob Nigro, Parker Middle School, Reading
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by designing special programs for students and all adults living in Reading. These programs could be focused on education and physical fitness. As the chair of the Board of Selectmen, I want to make sure that our eight public schools in town stay open for the town residents during the evening hours.
Currently, Reading has one new high school, two recently remodeled middle schools, and five updated elementary schools, which all close at 3:30 p.m. I would like to see programs running at all of these schools from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., so that everyone in town gets to enjoy the schools even if they don’t have children.
Some of the programs I would put in place are a homework program, computer classes for all ages, sports classes and games, and extra teacher help sessions. I would also like to see lots of classes like languages, crafts, money management, cooking and woodworking classes. These classes could be taught by teachers who want to make extra money.
I realize that my ideas and programs need funding. My solution is to charge a small fee per hour of use. If you can’t afford the fee, then you could donate time to work in programs in exchange for taking other programs.
Even though I am only in sixth grade, I have ideas and plans for the future and I hope I can make these come true.
About MMA MMA News MMA honors 2008 student essay winners
MMA honors 2008 student essay winners
Red Sox Nation President Jerry Remy and 450 local officials honored Sam Walters of Orleans, the winner of the MMA’s second annual Sixth Grade Student Essay Contest, during the MMA Annual Meeting on Jan. 11 in Boston.
Walters, who attends the Nauset Regional Middle School, was chosen from among nearly 2,400 participating sixth graders as the first-prize winner.
Chesterfield Select Board Chair David Kielson, the outgoing MMA president, presented Walters with a certificate of achievement and a $300 savings bond. Walters also won dinner tickets for him and his family from the MMA and a complimentary one-night hotel stay from the Sheraton.
Remy, the Red Sox announcer who was the speaker for the dinner event, congratulated Walters and presented him with an autographed World Series scorecard.
Second place in the essay contest went to Matthew Fregeau, who attends the Wilmington Middle School and will receive a $150 savings bond. Third place finisher Bob Nigro, who attends the Parker Middle School in Reading, will receive a $100 savings bond.
All of the student essays began with the line: “If I were elected leader of my community I would make a difference by …”
Judging criteria were creativity, clarity/sincerity of thought, proper use of grammar, and an understanding of local government.
Judges were Easton Selectmen Chair Colleen Corona; Wilmington Assistant Town Manager Jeff Hull; Watertown Councillor Jonathan Hecht; and Dina Segal, Boston’s deputy director of inter-governmental relations.
Every student who submitted an essay will receive a small gift.
Winning student essays
First Place
Sam Walters, Nauset Regional Middle School, Orleans
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by making housing more affordable on Cape Cod.
Lack of affordable housing is really hurting the people of the Cape. It is a big problem because many people have to move to other places because they cannot afford to live here anymore. The non-affordable housing problem especially affects young people because unless they have a very successful career right off the bat or have a very wealthy family, they are not going to be able to afford living on Cape Cod.
This could also provoke another big problem. This problem could be that there would be no young people to support the Cape, no people to be firemen or police officers, teachers or builders, or many other jobs that mostly young people do. It’s like the life of the Cape would be gone, also affecting the people that are not young because there would be no one to support them or do the things they can’t.
I plan to solve this problem by reserving land from being built up by malls or expensive condos and build affordable housing for the people of the Cape, especially the younger people. Another way I could solve the affordable housing problem would be by having funds from the state or the federal government or maybe just from donations to help people afford housing that they normally couldn’t. These two things could definitely help the cause of affordable housing.
Making housing more affordable on the Cape is how I would make a difference if I was elected leader of my community.
Second Place
Matthew Fregeau, Wilmington Middle School, Wilmington
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by improving or building a new library. Our library was built in 1954, before there were computers or other technology. There is no more room in the library to put more books or computers. In this age of a technology explosion, there will be a greater need for more computer space in the future. So we need to get ready for the future.
The library as it exists now does not contain the resources to allow for future expansion. Therefore I would build a new library. I would raise the money for the new library by getting the town involved and get the people to give some donations. I would also ask for a federal grant to help us pay for the new building. The rest would be from town taxes. This would leave the present library building empty.
The empty library building could become a new town hall. In the past it was felt that all town buildings should be around the town common. In moving the town hall to the old library building, this would centralize our town government. The old town hall building could then be returned to a school so we don’t have to build another school.
There are many other little things we can do to improve our community, like better sports fields, picking up litter along roadsides and public places, and filling in potholes in streets. However, I feel that a new library should be considered first.
Third Place
Bob Nigro, Parker Middle School, Reading
If I were elected leader of my community, I would make a difference by designing special programs for students and all adults living in Reading. These programs could be focused on education and physical fitness. As the chair of the Board of Selectmen, I want to make sure that our eight public schools in town stay open for the town residents during the evening hours.
Currently, Reading has one new high school, two recently remodeled middle schools, and five updated elementary schools, which all close at 3:30 p.m. I would like to see programs running at all of these schools from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., so that everyone in town gets to enjoy the schools even if they don’t have children.
Some of the programs I would put in place are a homework program, computer classes for all ages, sports classes and games, and extra teacher help sessions. I would also like to see lots of classes like languages, crafts, money management, cooking and woodworking classes. These classes could be taught by teachers who want to make extra money.
I realize that my ideas and programs need funding. My solution is to charge a small fee per hour of use. If you can’t afford the fee, then you could donate time to work in programs in exchange for taking other programs.
Even though I am only in sixth grade, I have ideas and plans for the future and I hope I can make these come true.
Written by MMA Database & Admin. Coordinator Kristi Williams
