Winners of 2024 “If I Were Mayor” state essay contest announced

The Virginia Municipal League announced the statewide winner and seven regional winners of the league’s “If I Were Mayor” Essay Contest.

In years past, the contest was limited to seventh graders but for 2024 it was expanded to include eighth graders. As such, there was even more competition from a wider variety of localities this year. The challenge to the students, however, remained the same: Identify an issue in their locality, talk to others about possible solutions, and then identify what solution would best address the issue.

The 2024 winners are:

• Statewide winner: Piper Dellinger of Signal Knob Middle School in Strasburg

• Region 1: Maya Morrison of Marion Middle School in Marion

• Region 2: Avery Gallimore of Christian Heritage Academy in Rocky Mount

• Region 3: Aiswarya Vinu of Shelburne Middle School in Staunton

• Region 5: Madeline Sherwood of Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church

• Region 6: Leia Hatem of J.L. Simpson Middle School in Leesburg

• Region 7: Eli Henry Smith of E.W. Wyatt Middle School

• Region 8: Jay Reese of Grafton Middle School in Yorktown

All the winners identified an issue affecting their community and proposed actionable solutions that demonstrated a grasp of what could be accomplished given available resources and public sentiment.

In every case, the essayists came to the problem from the perspective of an individual who genuinely wished to make their locality a better place for all. Of the statewide winning entry,

VML’s Executive Director Michelle Gowdy said: “Ms. Dellinger did a fantastic job of identifying a bedrock issue that affects not only her own community but those across the Commonwealth: the lack of citizen engagement and understanding of their local government. I appreciate that her solutions included both things that citizens could do to become more involved as well as things that local governments could do to raise awareness of their work. An outstanding essay by someone who I’m sure has a future making a difference in her community and beyond. Congratulations Piper and to all this year’s winners!”

In addition to a plaque, each regional winner will receive a gift card for $150. The statewide winner will receive a plaque and a gift card for $250.  

The Marion Town Council will formally recognize Maya Morrison for a  presentation of the plaque and check at the Monday, May 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Marion Town Hall. All winning essays will be featured in the May issue of VML’s magazine Virginia Town & City and will be posted at www.vml.org/Opportunities/Essay-Contest.