If I were president...

Global warming. The economy. Iraq.

Common election topics for many writers, including elementary school students.

Kids from all grades at Top of the World Elementary were invited to enter an “If I Were President, I Would ...” essay contest.

The grand prize winner, third-grader Katya Cox-Kruger, was born in Russia and has only lived in the United States for two years.

But she has already developed fluency in English, and chose world peace, pollution and smoking as her campaign issues.

Katya received two books about being president, hand-delivered from Washington, D.C., as her prize.

Her older sister Julia was also a grade-level winner.

Second-grade teacher Linda Barker coordinated the competition.

“Our students did a great job, and it was very difficult to choose the winners,” she said.

“They have empathy about the world around them.”

The other winners in each grade level were presented with giant pencils from the capital.

“We hope that we will see your face on one of these pencils someday,” Barker told the winners.

Katya’s winning essay reads:

If I were president I would make peace with other countries.

I would start with my heart and explain what I am trying to change.

Other people might agree with me and be on my side.

Then me and other people who agree with me will not only try to make peace with the whole world.

If I were president I would stop pollution.

I would do that by making it a law we could have no more boats that cause pollution.

There would be no motorcycles because it causes pollution and pollution is going to make the whole world unhappy.

If I were president I would make smoking illegal because it ruins peoples’ lungs and they can die.

If people already started smoking, I would pay for them to go to the doctors and the doctors would give them special medicine.

That is what I would do if I was president.

Excerpts from the other winning essays follow.

Brooke Beresford, kindergarten:

I would tell our country to be safe, have lots of food, and be happy.

Riley Russo, kindergarten:

If I were president, I would protect the ocean by not letting anybody throw garbage in it.

Alfred Lalande, first grade:

I want every school to have no bullies to boss around little people.

I want there to be no dads or moms who could lose their jobs because it is not their fault.

Everybody makes mistakes.

Don’t you make mistakes?

I want to ride my bike inside my pool!

I want to watch TV on my giant plasma screen.

I want everybody to follow the laws.

Being a president would be fun!

Anita Jenson, second grade:

If I were president, I would stop global warming because if we keep on riding cars, all the ice would melt and the water will rise and maybe someday no land would be left.

If I were president, I would make people stop having wars because lots of people get injured.

If I were president, I would have no people work for rich people because I bet the people that are working for the rich people feel like slaves.

If I were president, I would give some money to homeless kids so that they can go school and learn they can get a job when they are older and earn money.

If I were president, I would go into Mr. Willy Wonka’s factory look around then say to him “sir please stop your factory because the smoke coming out of your factory is really bad because it makes dirty stuff in the air and I want to stop that.”

And that’s what I would do if I were president.

Rebekah Hanson, fourth grade:

If I were president I would make teachers, firefighters and policemen celebrities because they are our true heroes.

First of all, I think teachers, firefighters and policemen should be celebrities and not sport players, singers and movie stars.

This is because lots of the time, these celebrities are not good role models for children.

Teachers should be celebrities because they teach people very important things you need to know in life.

For instance, they teach you how to read.

If you didn’t know how to read, you would miss all the enjoyment of reading wonderful stories.

They teach you how to write, and if you didn’t know how to write, well, there wouldn’t even be books.

They teach us how to do math, which is extremely important to know.

Without math, you wouldn’t be able to count things, add things together, or take things away.

They also teach us many other things such as social studies, grammar and science.

Learning all these subjects helps you get a good job to support a family.

I know that sometimes we dread going to school, but without education, life would be hard.

Also teachers teach lessons other than just school subjects.

They teach us about friendship, respect and responsibility which are all very important things to know.

I think firefighters should also be celebrities and get paid more because they are very, very important in our lives.

They are very important because if there is a fire, they put it out and try to save your house.

Also, if someone is stuck inside a fire, they risk their lives to try to save them.

In 1993, there was a fire in Laguna that burned down many houses, including my grandparents.

Without firefighters, all of Laguna, and more, could have been burned down, and many people could have been in danger.

Julia Cox-Kruger, fifth grade:

If I were president, I would make world peace.

It would start from my heart, then my family, then through my neighborhood, then through California, then through America, and then through the world.

That is how I would create world peace.

I would send a lot of money to the Friendship Shelter to help homeless people that don’t have anything but a penny, so they don’t have to stand out in the cold and rain asking for money.

I would buy houses all over America, and I would go around and take the homeless people to the houses where they are going to stay overnight.

I would feed them, buy beds for them, and measure them to buy clothes for them.

I would teach them how to read and write.

I would take them to special places.

I would stop the war in Iraq.

I would go in the middle and take a loudspeaker with me and say, “Stop!” and listen up! This is wrong. We have to stop this because it is not fair to other people in the world.

If they say OK, then we will celebrate our friendship.

These are the things that I would do if I were president.