When I heard his essay for the first time and read it, he had highlighted so many things that maybe we as adults take for granted. To hear it from his perspective really lets you appreciate what you have in your neighborhood. – Dan Clyne, parent
SALT LAKE CITY — Fifth-grader Mercy Smith admits she was nervous as she walked onto the stage, stepped up on the stool behind the podium and looked out over the roughly 500 city leaders and other grownups Friday.
It lasted only a moment, though, and the 10-year-old grew more and more comfortable as she read her first-place essay about why she loves living in Provo.
"Mountains rise high into the sky, and Utah Lake's blue waves glitter in the brilliant sunlight," Mercy read during the 2014 Utah League of Cities and Towns Convention in the ballroom at the Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel.
"People walk down the street, eyes open for anyone who might need help. Unique rivers, buildings, fields and canyons are spread across the land. This is a beautiful part of Utah," she continued.
Mercy wrote the essay while in fourth grade at Rock Canyon Elementary as a class assignment, and it was entered into the 17th annual Utah League of Cities and Towns Essay Contest. Her essay, "Why I Love My Community," earned her $100 and $1,000 for her school.
Christopher Clyne, who turns 14 next month, earned the top prize among seventh-grade entries for "The Homey Street Lined With Maples," a tribute to his neighborhood along Hollywood Avenue in Salt Lake City's Sugar House community.
"It is a quiet suburban neighborhood off 2100 South, lined with maple trees. It is a diverse place, with big homes and little homes, big people, small people, architects, writers and painters," read Christopher, now an eighth-grader at J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School.
"No matter what, it will always be a special place to me, from all the memories on the street, as well as fun traditions," he read. "My neighborhood is truly an amazing place."
The Utah League of Cities and Towns Essay Contest has been part of the curriculum for students in Cindy Hunt's seventh-grade class at J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School for the past seven years. In six of those years, at least one of her students has placed in the top three in the essay contest, she said.
"It has just taken off," Hunt said. "The kids really like it because their voice comes through. It has to be their voice, and it has to be genuine."
Christopher's essay paints a pleasant picture of neighbors who get along, spend time together and look out for one another. It highlights the fun times, such as birthday parties featuring bounce houses and water slides, "epic snowball fights," and an annual summer ice cream social to which the whole neighborhood is invited.
It also captures the closeness of the neighborhood, noting how those who live there "did all we could do to make it better" for the family of one of their own who was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"We all pitched in on meals and went to stay with the kids when the parents were at the hospital," according to Christopher's essay.
"I was pretty excited (about the essay)," he said after his reading. "I really enjoyed writing it, reflecting on my whole neighborhood."
Christopher's parents, Melissa and Dan Clyne, beamed with pride as their son read his essay, showing no signs of being nervous.
"When I heard his essay for the first time and read it, he had highlighted so many things that maybe we as adults take for granted," Dan Clyne said. "To hear it from his perspective really lets you appreciate what you have in your neighborhood."
Both first-place winners said they love to write and intend to find careers that involve the written word when they grow up.
"(Mercy) for many years has loved to write," said Marcus Smith, her father. "When the other kids are out on their bicycles, she would rather be home writing stories."
Much of Mercy's essay focused on the beauty of her surroundings, referring to "a small valley behind Timpview High School" as "one of the most magical places I have seen in my whole life."
"A narrow trail winds through the entire length of it," she wrote. "On an early summer morning, you can hear tall weeds swaying in the wind, and small songbirds chirping behind the branches of young trees."
Proximity to nature and having a walkable community is part of the reason the family decided to settle in Provo, Marcus Smith said.
"One of the things that we're really pleased with about Provo is that we're able to live in community that we can walk around in, having a walkable city, at least in terms of family walks and bike rides, and neighborhoods that are inviting," he said. "The kids have latched on to that, and we're grateful for that."
Both first-place winners said they plan to save their $100 winnings. As for money going to the schools, much of that often is put back into programs encouraging literary arts, said Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, who also serves as treasurer of the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
The purpose of the essay contest is to encourage Utah youths to become more aware of their communities, Seghini said.
"We all need to help children see and help them understand that they're partners in a community," she said, "and that they have much to tell us and much to give us."
Olivia Larson of Moroni Elementary in Moroni took second place in the fourth-grade contest, earning $75 and $750 for her school; and Isaac Hammond of Mountain View Elementary in Brigham City was third, receiving a $50 cash prize and $500 for his school.
In the seventh-grade division, Taylor Anderson of Gunnison Valley Middle School in Gunnison took second place, and Morgan Stewart of Kanab Middle School in Kanab was third.
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