Letters to the Editors

(The following letters are a selection of essays that were written and selected by students in my 7th grade English and Language Arts classes at the Winthrop Middle School. The assignment was to think of a problem or suggestion for improvement for our community of Winthrop. The students brainstormed ideas, came up with realistic solutions, and explained how their ideas would make Winthrop a better place. The students in each of my four classes read the work of their peers and voted on which ones should be sent for publication. All the students said that they would be willing to work with any citizens who take interest in their ideas and want to make them a reality.)

 

Having fun in Winthrop

Dear Editor,

Winthrop is a small town with many shops and stores but what is there to do if you’re trying to have fun? Not having enough things for kids and adults to do after school and work is a major problem. This is a big problem and I hope to fix it by putting in a community movie theater.

Even though it is a great town Winthrop can be boring at some times. It doesn’t have many places that kids can go after school to have fun and hang out with their friends. So it can result with kids being alone or playing video games. But I think I have a solution to this problem.

My solution is building a community movie theater. Imagine a place where kids can go after school to have fun and even make new friends. Well this dream could be a reality if we build a movie theater. It can be a place where if you are injured or you just don’t like sports you could go to have fun. We could accomplish this goal by fundraising in various ways. A few ways we could do this are raffles at town and school events such as sports games and plays, collection jars at local businesses, and fundraising websites. I have lots of other ideas for raising money and where to build it.

A community movie theater would make Winthrop a better place because it would give kids a place to go after school so they don’t linger everywhere. It would also make more money for the town of Winthrop and create jobs. Some of the profits they make could go directly to use in Winthrop. A movie theater would help Winthrop because town residents of all ages could go to have some fun.

Warm regards,

Emily Rodriguez

Mrs. Simpson’s 7th Grade ELA Class

Winthrop Middle School

 

What is there to do in Winthrop?

Dear Editor,

Are you sick of being home and having nothing to do after school? I know that I am not the only one that is thinking this. Many people don’t want to go home due to issues they may have or they are just bored of staying home and having nothing to do. What if you are hanging out with your friends but you can’t go to anyone’s house? With no place to hangout you can’t do anything. There are many reasons why I think we should have more places to hangout and stay with your friends after school or if you are bored at home.

Having nothing to do is a big problem in Winthrop and that is why most people just end up walking around town and getting into trouble, because there is nothing fun to do with your friends or even by yourself. First, there are no places for entertainment, which means no fun things to do. Say you and your friends want to hang out someplace but where? Next, there are no places that you can just go to play games, practice sports, watch movies. Lastly, there are very few after school programs when someone can’t go home because of violence or family issues or if their guardians aren’t home. But there are many ways we can fix this problem but it can’t be without your help.

I think that the solution to this problem is that Winthrop should repurpose at least one empty place to hangout for free or for affordable prices. First and foremost is to have a community event where everyone can come but has to donate a little bit of money or the amount they can like quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies as long as they put in a little they can enter. They would donate to help build a free hangout that provides their members with free food and drinks. In addition, Winthrop should build some kind of movie theater unlike the Revere Cinema it would be a small place that people can pay a fee of around 5-10 dollars to get in.  In the summertime, the WMS could host a teacher dunk tank or a movie night in the auditorium. My classmates and I have many more ideas for fundraising.

I believe this is the solution to the problem and can help Winthrop become a better place. Not only can it potentially create new jobs it can keep bored children out of trouble. It is also good for parents because they know their kids are safe when they are not home. This is also good way to strengthen our community.

In conclusion, I think that building somewhere everyone is welcome is going to bring us closer together for affordable prices. We will know everyone, we will become closer, and we will connect. I really hope that we can come together to improve our conditions and I am hopeful this will help us.

Sincerely,

Raquel Schettino

Mrs. Simpson’s 7th Grade ELA Class

Winthrop Middle School

 

What to do with the old Middle School?

Dear Editor and Residents of Winthrop,

As a student of the new and beautiful Winthrop Middle School, I feel as if the town has done a great job providing its youth with a great education space where we can all comfortably learn. But what about when we’re not at school? I believe that there is a severe lack of activities for middle-school-aged children to take part in here in town.

Every Friday when the dismissal bell rings, we (middle school students) hear the sweet sound of freedom from the weight of our hard work and dedication. We can finally just be teenagers, and hang out with our friends. Over half the school flocks to the town center, where we stay for hours on end. We walk around from business to business trying to keep out of the New England winter frost. The next week, kids are dropping from class like flies because of whatever cold or flu the cold has caused them. As Saturday night dawns closer to us, kids are making plans to go back out to the very same center in the cold night where trouble could be waiting for them around the corner. But, where else are we supposed to go? That question crosses most of our young minds as we make the quick but brisk walk from the school to the center. I might just have a solution to this problem.

I believe that the best solution to this problem would be to turn the old Winthrop Middle School into a new Winthrop Teen Center. Or, if the Middle School isn’t available, then we can build one or find another building to make it in. You might be wondering, what is a teen center? Well, a teen center is a safe place with community volunteers working to keep teens safe and out of trouble. Teen centers typically have things like lounges, video games, televisions, recreation rooms, and etcetera. They provide a spot where teens can hang out and are safe, with adults to ensure that. We can hold fundraisers around town to collect money for the project.

I have faith that this proposed teen center would make Winthrop a better place because it would keep teens out of trouble, which would lead to them having a better future, making Winthrop a better community. Also because keeping kids in a warm (or cool, in the summer) safe place would mean that they wouldn’t get sick as often, so they wouldn’t have to miss as much school, and going to school more leads to more overall knowledge. Having a fun place to go would encourage kids to go out more, and socialization is good for developing minds.

In closing, I hope that the citizens of Winthrop will realize that having a teen center would be helpful to the town because it can keep teens out of trouble, keep them out of the harsh New England weather, and keep them occupied. I am hopeful that we can make this happen for our community.

Best Regards,

Madelaine Tolliver

Mrs. Simpson’s 7th Grade ELA Class

Winthrop Middle School

 

Community needs  to work together

Dear Editor,

Do you ever look around Winthrop and see people alone? Winthrop is a town that needs to work together as a community. It is a town in need of a place for the community to gather and work together. Not having a place for the community to get together and work with each other makes the people of Winthrop separated and individuals. We never get together as one and fix this problem. In my opinion a community garden in an empty space in Winthrop can be our solution.

We need a community garden because Winthrop is in need of healthy foods. We need to have healthy foods in our community so that everyone can eat healthier food, and because healthy foods can help our whole community. We can have certain people that plant the foods and another group could pick the foods. Then there would be another group who could deliver them to less fortunate places in Winthrop. My next reason is that our community does not get together enough, but by having a community garden it can bring our small town together. Everyone can have a different job and we can work together to keep the garden going. My last reason is that we do not interact enough. We never have enough time to stay together, work together, and interact with each other as a community. I think I have a solution and the community garden may be just the thing.

My solution for this problem is first, we could have different times for different families to go and have fun and grow plants and food.  This is a solution because by doing this our community can come together and grow things with a community garden. My second solution for this problem is there can be certain people who grow and sell the plants and food to local Winthrop families. This also could help us come together because when we get the plants and food ready to sell, then we can interact with more citizens in the town through sales and delivery services. My last solution is that we can come together to keep the garden going all year long. To protect the plants and food from the cold seasons we could put up seasonal tents to protect them from the weather, and to put the tents up everyone will have to work together.  I think that this solution will make Winthrop a better place.

This makes Winthrop a better place when we work as a community to get things done.  When we are all accomplishing a common goal, it will bring our community together. A community that is tight knit, and bonded by a feeling of togetherness will make us stronger. Winthrop is such a fantastic place to live, and having a place like a community garden, it could only become more fantastic. Another important factor is the placement of the garden. Making a garden in unused space in our town would improve not only the appearance, but also the value of the property. Anytime people see improvement in appearance, and especially in property value, they are extremely happy. A happy community is a better place to live. My final reason is something I touched on earlier, but it is so important that I will once again bring it up. Healthy food is such a big part of healthy living. The more healthy food that is offered to the people in town is beneficial to the life expectancy of those people. The garden would be a perfect place to grow these healthy foods, and make them cost efficient for our citizens. It would also allow these healthy foods to be delivered to many different people in our community. I am very hopeful that we can make these improvements for our town.

I hope that the people of Winthrop will get involved to make a community garden. I really want our small town to get together and make this work. I believe we can work together and improve our community.

Sincerely,

Mia Martucci

Mrs. Simpson’s 7th Grade ELA Class

Winthrop Middle School

 

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