Twin Cities area kids show how they're making our world better

What have local kids done to make their neighborhoods, classrooms and communities better?

Lots, it turns out.

For the annual essay contest, sponsored by the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Star Tribune, we asked elementary school students how they've improved the world around them, brought people together and made a difference. They responded — by the hundreds.

But it's not just the numbers that are inspiring, it's the stories. Students in grades three through five from the Twin Cities area and beyond shared personal stories about how they've become a buddy to a lonely schoolmate, spoken out about a disability, helped write a book to comfort earthquake victims or taken part in a powwow to raise money for cancer prevention. The students wrote about these everyday acts of kindness, generosity and courage with the kind of clarity only a kid can summon.

Choosing just 10 was wasn't easy, but we managed it.

Our first-place winner is Levi Boswell of Minneapolis, whose beautifully written essay describes the power of music to make community. He'll receive a $500 Visa gift card from U.S. Bancorp. The nine runners-up — Liam Edel, Jack Hackler, Owen C. Bednar, Rhianwyn Marya Carol Hage, Annabelle Speers, Dalaney Villebrun, Alisa M. Barnett, Ethan Horton and Nivedha Ramaswamy — will each receive a $100 Visa gift card.

I really like drumming and I really like the beat of the drums. You don't need a drum to make a sound. All of the world's music starts with a beat. Clap your hands or stomp your feet, everyone makes a beat.

At the end of the year, a new girl came to my school. No one wanted to be her friend because she had brown skin. I felt really bad for her. I have brown skin too. I remember all the insecurities I had when I was first coming to school. I decided I should become friends with her. The next day I was going to the new girl's table when my friend saw me. She ran up to me and dragged me to her table. I didn't want to lose my friend so I decided I would try the next day.

So the next day, I went up to the new girl's table. My friend was shaking her head vigorously. Everyone in the lunchroom was staring at me horridly. I sat down next to the girl. The girl gave me a feeble smile. I ignored the people staring at me. I had a lot of fun with the new girl and we became friends.

One day, my old friend came up to me and my new friend. She asked if she could play with us. I said OK, so we all played together. We all got a lot of friends and we all were treated equally.

Doing service feels like putting another piece of the world together. A few weeks ago, I created a service project for my school to collect hygiene items to donate to Mary's Place, a place for homeless families in transition.

When I walked into school the first day of collecting, I already saw the box overflowing — I was thrilled! Two weeks later, we were ready to pack the items into bags. We had a ton of stuff!

As we drove away from Mary's Place I felt good about what I had done. I felt like it really helped many people.

Recently my father and two of my aunts went to Nepal after they had an earthquake. My sister and I sent toys but I wanted to do more. My father told me many children had seen and experienced many terrible events. My father and I decided to write a children's book so that the children could be prepared for another earthquake and be less scared from what happened to them.

This book is the story of a Nepali brother and his sisters' experiences during the earthquake. The story tells children the right thing to during the earthquake. Also, children can relate events that happen in the story to events that happened to them. There is a dog in the story, so if they have a pet they may relate to that also.

A child's view on things really helped the book.

Everyone should help people in need when they can.

Programs are important because kids practice things to be in their communities, like tutoring. Tutoring is important because people learn the alphabet, numbers, fractions, math, and fun things like playing games.

People with Down syndrome want to learn to communicate. I have Down syndrome and communicate with volunteers, donors and others. They can know our names and our family, so they can communicate with us, understand us and live united. United is awesome.

Last year, I helped my community by collecting pop tabs for a boy named Nick. Nick was injured in a car accident when he was three years old. So my grandma and I collected pop tabs with help from many other people. At the end of the first month, we collected 1,530 pop tabs.

You're probably wondering what he was going to do with all those pop tabs. Nick's family couldn't afford to buy a wheelchair, but this place called the Ronald McDonald House lets you buy wheelchairs with pop tabs.

When we finished collecting, we had over 30,000 pop tabs and my grandma and I took them to Nick and his family. Nick and I got to play and his family thanked us for helping them.

After my grandpa died, I was very sad. I didn't want that to happen to other grandpas and kids, so I raised money by making art projects and selling them to family and neighbors. I raised over $100. I did the Alzheimer's walk with my grandma and donated my money. It was exciting to be part of a community trying to cure Alzheimer's.

Have you ever made a club at your school? Well, I have. One day I saw my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Wright, come into school with his bike. I really like to bike, so I decided I would go to him and ask him if he rode his bike to school and it turns out he does. A couple of days later, at lunch, I asked him "Could we make a bike club?" and he said "Great idea! Let me get back to you." I waited a day and then the bike club was now a club. Each fall and spring our club takes four rides. Each ride is about seven miles and takes about one hour and fifteen minutes to complete. Our bike club helps kids stay active in a fun and adventurous way that is noncompetitive and exciting. It makes me feel good that people are happy to be a part of bike club.

Powwow for Hope is a powwow that raises money for the American Indian Cancer Foundation.

I worked with the Division of Indian Work to make crafts. I made twenty key chains and I beaded two pairs of earrings. I also made a birch bark basket. All the money was donated to help prevent cancer. I danced about fifty songs. I participated in this powwow to help my community to be aware of cancer. I also participated in the Powwow for Hope because my grandma has cancer and I don't want anybody else to get cancer.

My school has a buddy bench on the playground. The buddy bench is something you sit on if you don't have someone to play with.

I was told by my teachers that it makes a person feel like they have a friend when they are asked to play. He was very happy and I had someone to play with, too.