1994-1995 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources
Teacher: Rochelle Rasmussen

Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

1st Lesley Bertrand   1st Stacey Thompson     1st Jessica Louonsbery
2nd Jason A. Williamson        2nd Bryan Stevens         3rd Jon Eide 3rd Carmen Pederson    

“There are many examples of irresponsible behavior in our society. One example is people that fake injuries at their workplace, then take workman's compensation as a supplement because they can't work. This dishonest behavior costs all of us who pay the insurance premiums a lot of money."
Lee Austin, Centerville High South Dakota.

 “Most people feel teens know about sex. I don't feel this is the case. I feel abstinence should be taught by the school. Parents should talk about safe sex to their children. I feel there should be condom ads and commercials. Some people feel this is encouraging sex. I don't. I feel this is promoting safe sex. This would solve many problems about the way teenagers feel about sex. It would also put an end to the problem of saying 'I didn't know' or 'I wasn't taught'."
Jeanne Johnke, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 “Jim Brinkerhoff of western Iowa, found a bag of money containing $1,500 ...and decided to return it because his conscience would not let him keep it."
Josh Johnson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "We extrapolate from the flyer that we received recently from Melissa, founder of the Homemakers of the 90's Club: Most homemakers today are overworked and under-valued. Although not often recognized by society, a homemaker could be described as a care- taker, nurse, housekeeper, gardener, taxi driver; psychologist, accountant, teacher, judge, jury, chef, seamstress and handyperson. Homemakers are really the foundation of the family, but once the husband and kids have left for the day, they may begin to feel alone and unimportant. At the Homemakers' Club they get to spend a little time each week with other 'professionals' in their field....At the local weekly meetings they share experiences and ideas concerning craft projects, recipes, parenting strategies, spousal relationships, gardening tips and information about issues directly affecting their profession.
    When most working women head off to their jobs every day, they are immediately surrounded by others who share the same work experiences and can offer them peer support. Shouldn't those who have chosen homemaking as a way to contribute, also be able to experience a network of support?
Parents have lost their power to parent. It has not always been this way. Parents once thought that it was their moral obligation to take care of, discipline, and take responsibility for their children. The community expected this of the parents. These children knew that their parents would not tolerate their behavior and they did obey them. There is no longer a connection between the family and their community such as these."
Carie Mitchell, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee.

 “Most people today don't care what their teens are doing at night or who they are with and I think that should change."  
Gunner Rotter, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Teens should know that they should not drink when they're not old enough. I would bet a good [number] of teens have been picked up for drinking related accidents and have been let off easy by their folks."
Gunner Rotter, Centerville High, Centerville, South Dakota

"Alternatives The root of that word, alter, is also the root to the whole project. To alter means to change or improve. One way of improving a community is by stretching the resources of the local government and, at the same time, meeting a need of the community. Whether it be beautifying a park or saving a hospital, adecision-making process must occur."
Becky Ward, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Dix Johnke, a local farmer, volunteered to donate the gravel to fix the driveway at the beach. For campfires, we decided to build our own with small rocks as a ring. To get community support, our class felt that advertisement in the local paper would be sufficient. The class thought that we could ask the community to donate materials like lumber, nails, and grass seed. The Garden Club, Centerville Boosters, and other various community organizations, offered to donate materials and time. The Garden Club offered to organize materials and volunteers, as they are mostly retirement age women."
Stacey Thompson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "I think we can boost the incentives of this project by providing volunteers and donators a free lunch on the day they work; we could have it set up like a raffle. We could have a prize set aside for the person who does the most work or donates the most supplies or labor. I feel that we can get the city involved more by listing in the local paper some of the ways this project can help the city. For example, the clean parks bring more people here from other towns (almost like a small tourist area.)"
Pat Lee, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Centerville is just like your average small town: quiet, friendly, a few assorted businesses. Centerville is not without problems, however. The streets are bad, the water system is worse, and there hasn't been a real student hang-out place since the Slack Time pizza parlor closed in May of 1994. To find a possible remedy to one of these problems, the junior class took on the Harry Singer essay [project]."
Luke Johnson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "In the spirit of Vice President Al Gore's Reinventing Government proposal, the students of the Centerville junior class looked for ways to save money and stretch resources in their local government. In short, the students worked together with the community to come up with many ideas to achieve this goal."
Spencer McCombs, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "A student from the class called a local law office and asked for the definitions of the following terms and if they would effect us in any way with the project that we are doing. The student found out that sovereign immunity is a term that came from the common law which meant that the king is sovereign and that he cannot be sued. This is the same with the state; the state cannot be sued unless given permission. Therefore the school, which is a part of the state, cannot be sued. She also found that the meaning of strict liability was concerning things that are manufactured; and the term tort law is based on the concept of negligence and reasonable care. The student also asked whether the school insurance policy would cover anything that might happen, or if it was in the city's policy. She found out that since this project was not being done during school hours, the school would not in any way be liable and that yes, it was in the city's insurance policy."
Carrie Peterson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "By working together, the class was able to develop an alternative plan and get experience at being on a decision-making committee. The experience will enable them to make important decisions in the future in a mature and complete way."
Becky Ward, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "All in all, through the conflicts and doubt, we cooperated and came to a solution. We worked out all of our problems and together decided how this can all work."
Tara Edman, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Coming up with a project that everyone agreed on was the hardest part of this process. We spent ten days reviewing numerous ideas. Potential projects we discussed included: starting a community center, building bike trails, putting a fence around the park, making repairs and improvements to park facilities, and putting up a welcome sign. From vote results, our class chose to build a community center."
Jessica Lounsbery, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "The process we used was to get ideas from all the classmates, narrow each one down, and then work from there. We worked with about four or five different ideas."
Patrick Carlson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Deciding upon an alternative project for this essay was the most difficult part. Not because the students didn't have good ideas, rather because there were too many good ideas."
Becky Ward, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "The act of working together can show friendship and service. Not only is this essay a grade, but it would be a joy of service to accomplish it."
Spencer McCombs, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "One group had to poll the community, another had to come up with ideas to help better the town, and another had to come up with incentives and disincentives."
Travis Andersen, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Imagine you play football on a team; however, this time you are the only player for the team. You, who are a fairly good player, are expected to play against eleven other sizable men. You have to be on the defense, not to let the other team score, and you also have to try to score for yourself. Could this be done? Of course not. You would be destroyed. This same thing often times follows in school and in other activities. In order to get something done, you often have to work as a team. In our class project for this Alternatives essay, we had to work as a team. As a team we had to divide up the workload and work together to complete the project. This included calling community members for the poll, determining a proposal for our essay project, and researching the project to determine the legal aspect."
Carrie Peterson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Before we could do the projects, we called different organizations to check if everything would be legal. We called the Game, Fish and Parks Department. They told us to call Lewis and Clark Park Department. We spoke to Jeff and he told us to call Nancy Klutz of Centerville. She told us to talk to the city of Centerville because the parks are owned by them and it is not state property. We then found out the legal status. A classmate talked to Michael Myers, a local lawyer. Pat Lee spoke to the Mayor of Centerville, Ben Bjordal. D. J. Bryant spoke to the Garden Club, Boosters, and the Rotary Club to see if they would be willing to help. They all promptly agreed to help organize and complete the project."
Jeremy Smetana, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "From the city ordinances in the library, Mandy's group learned campfires were legal in town."
Jessica Lounsbery, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "I think we should be proud that we have people that are willing to take an extra step to [improve] our community with their time and resources. If [more residents] had ideas like these and carried them out, I think our town could be one of the top communities in the state. I think this will encourage other towns to do the same thing and follow in our footsteps to better and improve their community."
Travis Andersen, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "A neighboring town had volunteers build a community center two years ago from donations and grants. It has meeting rooms, a kitchen, É and it features a basketball court also used for volleyball, dances or bazaars. It was a very successful community effort, saving tax money and providing advantages for the public."
Jessica Lounsbery, Centerville High , Centerville, South Dakota

 "We figured this could be done as a community project, since past projects have been successful when the entire community helped out. One such project was the building of a new library adjoining the school. Many donations of money, time and ideas helped the project get off its feet and later become a success. Anotherproject was improving the boulevard. Again, people pitched in by planting flowers and trees, mowing the lawn frequently, and donating money to purchase new lamp posts."
Carmen Pederson, Centerville High School, Centerville South Dakota

 "In doing our part to become upstanding citizens and good neighbors we followed the example of others and at the same time became role models ourselves. We drew attention to feasible projects while pursuing our own project alternatives." [Edited]
Ellen Holmberg, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Do volunteers need to sign a release form? When do we do the work? How do we attract volunteers? Who would purchase supplies?"
Jessica Lounsbery, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "The disincentives of this project, as with many others, would be just getting it off the ground, getting it started and getting people involved."
Pat Lee, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Our class also considered building an off-road bicycle and snowmobile trail. This idea was immediately opposed because of the liability involved. After some discussion, we also felt that if we were to do this proposal, there would be a land purchase involved. Since this is a project to stretch and conserve resources,our class decided that this would not be a feasible plan."
Stacey Thompson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "At first, our class liked an idea for renovation of the theater downtown, but we decided that, since the theater had not been used for a number of years, it may not be structurally sound. The class also decided that if the building was safe to use, the owner may not be willing to approve the idea, especially if he was liable should any accidents occur."
Stacey Thompson,Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

 "Next we made a list of problems we might encounter. Some facts we needed to find out included: funding, size, furnishings, maintenance, support, volunteer work and supervision. After discussing this list, we took another vote and [decided] this project was too involved. We didn't want to give up on our goal, but we needed to be reasonable."
Jessica Lounsbery, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

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