McPherson High School
McPherson, Kansas
Teacher: Robin Long
My Connection With Community
By Aaron Winkler
12th Grade
McPherson City, Kansas’s population (according to the censusGR2 of 2000), is 13,770. I have lived here for nine years and during that time I [have become] connected to this community.
What is a connection with a community? A connection with a community is when do or have done something in a community that [you] probably have not done or cannot do in other communities. This essay will show [my] connection with my community.
Every year I try to find a way to help my community. Normally it is nothing big but just a few simple things every month. I help my local community church by volunteering with the October Fest, which is a German celebration during October, The Mexican fiesta, and mowing the church’s lawn a few times a year.
I also help my community by having a job that provides services to the McPherson city so that the money will continue to circulate in this town. I started working at the Snow Barn when I was a seventh grader. [It is] a family business that sold snow cones during the summer. The Snow Barn only lasted one summer because we were not making enough profit…. We made just enough to pay for the things that were used for the business. Right now I am working at Pizza Hut Delivery, where I am in charge of taking orders and washing the dishes to make sure the customers of McPherson enjoy our services.
The McPherson community helps me [by providing] things that I want or need. If [my friends and I] I want to get some exercise we have a local YMCA, which lets us choose from a wide variety of recreational activities, and large city swimming pool that is designed for the whole family. For sports I can choose to use one of the six basketball courts around town, or one of four baseball courts…. There is also a skate park, which was recently put in because the city noticed [the] growth of the skating fad…. Instead of trying to stop it, they helped…by building a place for [skaters] to hang out away from the people that dislike skaters. Or, I could just take a nice walk around the beautiful Lakeside Park.
When I am hungry I have a wide selection [of restaurants] to choose from in McPherson. If I want Mexican style food I could choose from Taco Bell, Taco Tico, La Fiesta, or Ponchos. If I want pizza, I could eat at Pizza Hut (which I probably will not choose because I work there and get free food). If I wanted to eat Chinese food there is Golden Dragons, Hunan’s, and Imperial Gardens. If want to eat hamburgers I would choose (of course these restaurants are everywhere in the world) McDonalds, or Wendy’s.
However, if I want to cook something myself I could go to one of three grocery stores, Dillions Super Store on the north end of town, a small Dillions at the South end of town, or Super Wal-mart, and there are also a dozen other locally owned stores right here in McPherson.
For entertainment in McPherson there is a Game Stop, which is a store where you can buy or sell console and PC video games and DVDs. A Blockbuster, which is a movie rental store that has been in McPherson for years. A Movie Gallery, which is a new movie rental store, except strangely this one has a sun tanning booth in there.
For education, McPherson has six elementary schools including a Catholic elementary school, an average-sized middle school, a high school that is not too large or crowded, and a local college.
Honestly there are a few negative aspects in my community. McPherson does not have a hobby shop, and the best hobby shop we can go to is in Wichita.
I recommend that people join this community because McPherson has a wide selection of friendly services, the sports courts that are around town, and a wide selection schools to attend. …