Students from Minnetrista, Silver Bay, St. James, and Woodbury have been selected as winners of the League of Minnesota Cities’ 2025 Mayor for a Day Essay Contest. Judges also named four honorable mention essayists from Duluth, Lakeville, Blaine, and Spring Valley.

Launched in 2013, the Mayor for a Day Essay Contest invites fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students to share their ideas for making their communities better places to live. The winning students each received a plaque and a $100 check, and their essays are published here. Honorable mention recipients received a certificate of recognition, along with featured excerpts from their essays.

Finalists were judged by West St. Paul City Council Member and League President Wendy Berry.

The League thanks the teachers, city officials, parents, and guardians who encouraged students to participate. Congratulations to all the students who took part and shared their thoughtful and creative ideas.

Everlie Ernest

6th Grade | Silver Bay

If I were mayor for a day, I would organize a garbage pick-up day once a month to try to keep our town clean.

Then I would start a really good fundraiser for the people in need. I would have my grandma bake cookies, and that’s how I would get the fundraiser started. I would send out a paper and have the mailman give it to people, so they come. The cookies would be $4 because they’re homemade (with love).

When the fundraiser got enough money, I would go to Zups or Costco and get lots of food for the people in need. Then I would also get hygiene products like deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hairbrushes. I would go to Bath & Body Works to get body wash and perfume for the girls, then go to Target and get the brand called Finery, which is cologne, for the boys. Then I would go to Walmart and get the men Body by Dove.

I would add a new park because I think there should be more shade and a water station. I would also go clean the pollution out of the lake in the summer.

A mayor needs to be ready for negative things being said and disagreements, stay calm, and stay strong during emotional situations, like if they ever ban cookies. They need to make sure to take care of the community by focusing on economic development and getting teachers to strengthen public education.

That’s how I would be mayor for a day.

Felix Johnson

4th Grade | Woodbury

My name is Felix Johnson, and I am a fourth grader at Red Rock Elementary School in Woodbury. My Cub Scout group heard about this contest and I wanted to enter.

If I were mayor for a day, I would make a program to allow all residents to have backyard chickens or ducks. Residents would have to meet the following requirements:

• They would need a fully fenced-in area so coyotes and other predators can’t get in.
• They would need to complete a class about poultry management, so they know how to care for them.
• They would need to have a hen or duck house.

There would also be rules:

• No roosters (too noisy).
• A limit of 6 chickens or ducks. (Chickens lay about 300 eggs per year, ducks about 200 eggs per year. Six birds could mean 1,200 to 1,800 eggs per year. That’s a lot of eggs!)
• Annual renewal in the program.
• Having chickens or ducks allows for:
• Ridding yards of invasive plant species like creeping Charlie.
• Free fertilizer.
• Cheap food (eggs cost a lot!).

I think backyard chickens and ducks are a good idea. This is what I would do as mayor for a day.

Elan Thaler

5th Grade | Minnetrista

Hi, my name is Elan, and I live in Minnetrista. If I were mayor for a day I would work on city development. Minnetrista used to have few people and was mainly farmland. Recently, more people are moving here, but there aren’t many restaurants, companies, or stores.

I think it is important to have shops and stores because they improve quality of life for everybody. With more businesses, we would attract even more people and make Minnetrista a better place to live. One idea is to create a Minnetrista “Main Street” with many stores. Steps for this project would be:

• Hold meetings to hear ideas. I’d advertise them and have meetings on different days of the week.
• Find a strip of land in Minnetrista. I’d give some locations, then take a vote to choose the best place.
• Build a Main Street and sell stores spaces. A committee would help organize this and maintain it.
• Have people enjoy Minnetrista Main Street and collect feedback to make it even better.
• Have monthly events, like watercolor painting, food tours, and book talks.

If Minnetrista built a Main Street, there would be more shops, which would lead to more visitors and more people moving here, which would help Minnetrista grow into a great city! Since Minnetrista is alongside a lake, that’s something to take advantage of. The Minnetrista Main Street should be lakeside to attract more people and help compete with neighboring cities like Waconia, Excelsior, and Wayzata.

In conclusion, this idea would get more people to live in Minnetrista, make money for the city, and create a convenient spot that has everything you need.

Brynlee Winrich

6th Grade | St. James

Hello, I am Brynlee. I think some things that could help this town are spending more time supporting wildlife, cleaning the town, and adding more mental health murals and art in St. James.

These ideas could help attract new people and make life better for people who already live here. For example, adding more plants near lakes or ponds could make the town feel brighter. Cleaning the town will make it feel fresher and newer. Adding more murals about mental health and important people, like the one by Family Dollar, could help people feel united and seen.

Some ways we could accomplish this is to have volunteers plant flowers and trees and help clean up ditches. Volunteers could be from 4-H clubs, school teams, or anyone willing to help make St. James better. And for murals and paintings, maybe a young artist is willing to paint something heartful and creative if you let them.

Thank you very much for listening to my ideas about improving nature, cleaning the town, and painting more murals. I hope these ideas will help.

honorable mentions

Maddy Backner

5th Grade | Lakeville

Excerpt from Maddy’s essay:

The most common reasons playgrounds are inaccessible to children with mobility issues are stairs and the materials used on the ground. If I were mayor, I would add ramps, use foam ground instead of wood chips, and add merry-gorounds that you can roll onto in a wheelchair or with a walker.

Kat Cyr

6th Grade | Duluth

Excerpt from Kat’s essay:

I would improve my city’s housing by helping the city decide where to put them. I think we should build homes in places that we don’t use often so we can make sure families without shelter are able to get a house.

Allison Eickhoff

6th Grade | Spring Valley

Excerpt from Allison’s essay:

In my opinion, safety comes first, so citizens feel safe and comfortable. All mayors should consider safety first.

Jah’Zarah Jackson

4th Grade | Blaine

Excerpt from Jah’Zarah’s essay:

I would work with local stores and restaurants to collect the extra food that they don’t use. Instead of throwing it away, we could give it to families who are in need.