Micah Thor, a fifth grade student from Marshall, stepped up to the podium to read his winning “Mayor for a Day” essay at Tuesday’s Marshall City Council meeting. Marshall students in grades 4-6 were invited to write about what they would do if they were in charge of the city for a day.

MARSHALL — What would you do if you were in charge of your hometown for the day? For Micah Thor, the answer would be to help other young people.

“I just thought of things I saw that other people didn’t have,” Thor said. Some of his ideas included creating community sports teams, and helping kids with school supplies and wifi access.

Thor, a fifth grade student from Marshall, was named the winner of the city of Marshall’s “Mayor for a Day” essay contest. He was invited to read his essay at this week’s Marshall City Council meeting.

“I was definitely surprised. I knew that quite a few of my friends had entered,” Thor said of learning his essay won the contest. “I felt very nervous. But it was definitely a good experience.”

The Mayor for a Day essay contest is run through the League of Minnesota Cities, said Jasmine DeSmet, community education coordinator at Marshall Community Services. “It was open to fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Marshall schools, and they were given the opportunity to write an essay on what they would do if they were mayor for a day,” she said.

DeSmet said Marshall Community Services received several entries in the contest.

“There was some great talent and great ideas,” said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes. “And who knows, in 10 to 15 years, maybe some of these young people will be mayor for longer than a day.”

In his essay, Thor said he would be mayor “for the people, and not the money.”

“If I were mayor for a day, I would create community sports teams in which people can socialize with peers. And I would give money to plow streets in the winter, because winters in Minnesota are crazy,” he said. “I would spend more money on getting school supplies to people who can’t pay for them. I’d create indoor public (wifi) hot spots, in which kids with a student ID have a free pass.”

“I would also try to socialize with my peers and listen to their ideas, because I can’t be the only one with ideas,” Thor said.

“Just imagine what I could do if it was my real job,” he concluded.

Thor said he decided to write an essay for the contest, “Because I had some free time in class, and that was one of the options.” Out of the ideas he came up with for his essay, he really liked the idea of making wifi hot spots available for Marshall students.

“I knew there were quite a few people who don’t have wifi at home,” Thor said.

In addition to receiving a certificate of achievement for his essay, Thor got a season pass to the Marshall Aquatic Center. Thor said he was looking forward to getting to use the pass this summer. “My family goes to the pool quite a bit,” he said.

Even though he was nervous to speak in front of the city council, Thor said being part of the essay contest was fun. “It’s something that everyone should try,” he said.