Name:

Michael M.

Award:

1st Prize

Category:

9th-12th

Essay:

The King of Town
In this world of uncertainty, there should be places we can look to for comfort and support. One of these should be our neighborhood.  A neighborhood should be more than people living in a particular district or area.  It is the relationship between people. It is also the activities and playgrounds that children can enjoy. We should always be looking to make improvements.  If I were in charge of Lakewood Village, there are specific areas I would attempt to change.   
When I was little, I was involved in Lakewood little league baseball. Aside from screaming parents, cursing teammates who threatened me with balls and bats, it was great times! Luckily, my brothers have had much better experiences than I, and their teams and coaches have been great.  But occasionally, when watching a game, I will still see overzealous parents and coaches. If I was in charge of Lakewood I would make the parents supportive of the kids, coaches, and umpires.  It is impossible to change human nature, but I would encourage civility by parents and coaches in child sports.

Where have all the great parks gone? I remember growing up, and going to incredible playgrounds.  Now, they have been replaced by new, boring, ill-conceived structures.  Perhaps this is due to injuries in the past, but the effort should be made to be more creative. Safe, but fun playgrounds can still be made. I would have more inventive parks. Also, I would create a new exercise area, and try to make exercising more appealing and fun.

Some things we can change, and others we can only dream about, but it is great that we have the neighborhood that we do, and we should all work to improve it, and keep it strong.

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