GMA received a record number of essays in this year's "If I Were Mayor, I Would" essay contest! More than 5,600 essays were submitted by 6th graders around the state. Popular topics included public safety, clean communities and protecting the environment. Students also wrote about bringing more jobs to their communities and providing shelter for people and animals.
This year, the judges picked 13 winners, after a tie in one of the districts. Those winners will all be honored at a luncheon later this month.
The winners for the essay contest were:
District 1
Lupita Vidana
Dalton Middle School
District 2
Corey Robinson
North Habersham 6th Grade Academy (Demorest)
District 3
Hayden Troy Butler
Hopewell Middle School (Milton)
And
Barrett Tallant
Fairplay Middle School (Douglasville)
District 4
Blake McNair
Temple Middle School
District 5
Caleb Moore
Jefferson Middle School
District 6
Kaitlyn Roberts
Fort Valley Middle School
District 7
Oakley Gibson
Burke County Middle School
District 8
Yanett Paz
Taylor County Upper Elementary
District 9
Nathan Smith
Glennville Middle School
District 10
Heeth Varnadoe
Brookwood School (Thomasville)
District 11
Deedric Mitchell
Newbern Middle School (Valdosta)
District 12
Rachel Murray
Oglethorpe Charter School (Savannah)
"We saw a lot of really good essays," said Ray City Mayor Carl Camon, who serves as a judge. "You can tell students are paying attention to what's going on in their communities. This contest tells us what we need to be doing to make our cities places they would like to live, and gives us a glimpse into the future when these young people are in leadership positions."