Calgary is a city that has been improving dramatically as it grows, but one group has not been able to offer much input to Calgary – youth. Youth frequently find it difficult to seize opportunities to participate in Calgary’s improvement, and often cannot get their ideas heard. Youth Central and the Mayor’s Youth Council have begun to work on fixing the lack of involvement that youth have in the city, with many programs starting up to work on fixing this issue. One major program that is now in its second year is Mayor for a Day, an essay writing contest for students in grades 6 – 9 that allows you to share your creative ideas to improve Calgary.
Mayor for a Day allows youth to ensure their voice is heard. Mayor for a Day is a collaboration between Youth Central and the City of Calgary. Youth’s opinions are heard and collected by Youth Central, then sent to the City of Calgary for further examination. The basic underlying theme for all youth participating in Mayor for a Day is Your Three Things for Calgary – the three most important actions or ideas that each person can think of which can be enacted to improve Calgary. These ideas can be about any topic you can think of to make Calgary a better place, with the best of your ideas being considered and possibly implemented.
How can you be sure your great ideas will be implemented, while also meeting with Mayor Nenshi and other players in Calgary politics? By sending in your essay, your ideas will be examined, contemplated and possibly even implemented by the City of Calgary. Where does the contest come in? The best ideas are shown to Mayor Nenshi, with the Mayor personally choosing a winner. The top essay writer selected will enjoy the honor of spending a day with the Mayor while learning more about what he does. Over the course of this day, you will get the opportunity to share your ideas and work on their implementation as well as educating yourself about the typical day of a mayor.
If you want to enter, all you need to do is write an essay that is less than 1,000 words long. In this essay, Youth Central and the Mayor have given you the opportunity to offer input by sharing Your Three Things for Calgary that will help improve the city and make it a more appealing place for youth. You’ll need to submit it using the submission form available here, and send it to Youth Central using the information available here. The deadline for the contest, March 11, isn’t too far away, so start thinking about how you can improve Calgary!
If you’re interested in hearing about more events being held by the Mayor’s Youth Council, you can check out their Facebook page.
