St. Helens Students Asked to Share What They Would Do as Mayor - 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2023

St. Helens, Ore. – The St. Helens City Council invites local students to share their creative ideas about what they would do if they were mayor of St. Helens. The “If I Were Mayor…” Student Contest is held in partnership with the Oregon Mayors Association (OMA) and is open to all students who reside within the St. Helens School District boundaries and are enrolled in school or being home-schooled for the 2022-2023 school year.

First place winners in each category will receive $150 cash, and second place winners will receive a cash prize of $50. All participants are invited to a lunch with Mayor Scholl after the contest is complete.

Students can submit entries to City Hall in one of three categories: a poster competition for grades 4-5, an essay or PowerPoint competition for grades 6-8, and a digital media presentation for high school students. Submission criteria was updated this year to allow essays to be submitted in PowerPoint format for the grades 6-8 category. A PowerPoint submittal is no longer accepted for the high school student category. Instead, high school submittals must be in video format only.

Completed submissions must be received at St. Helens City Hall by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 3. A complete contest packet and entry form are available to download on the City’s website at www.sthelensoregon.gov/news. Hardcopy versions of the application packet can also be mailed upon request or picked up in person at St. Helens City Hall by appointment. Please contact Lisa Scholl at lscholl@sthelensoregon.gov or 503-366-8216 to make arrangements to receive a hardcopy. 

First place winning entries from the St. Helens contest will be sent to the state competition for a chance to win a prize worth $500.

All completed submissions will be reviewed at the Wednesday, March 15, 2023, St. Helens City Council Work Session. The Council will evaluate the entries based on creativity, clarity/sincerity of thought, proper use of grammar and subject relevancy.

In past years, St. Helens students who have won at the local level have had great success at the state competition. During last year’s competition, two local St. Helens winners placed first at the state level and one local St. Helens winner placed second.

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For further information regarding the “If I Were Mayor…” Student Contest, please contact Deputy City Recorder Lisa Scholl at 503-366-8216 or lscholl@sthelensoregon.gov.