Shelby Anton of Palm Coast Fla., was awarded a $100 cash prize as well as the honor of meeting Destin Mayor Mel Ponder during an award ceremony Monday. The upcoming eighth-grader of Indian Trail Middle School was chosen from 1,500 state-wide applicants based on her essay answering the essay question, “If I was Mayor…”
“I entered because my civics teacher made me do it,” said Anton, adding that it was a class-wide assignment. In the first line of her award-winning essay Anton said, “If I were elected mayor, I would make my town a better place to live by focusing on tourism and increasing jobs.”
During the ceremony, Ponder commended Anton for her ingenuity and referenced her essay saying, “Here in Destin we’re a big tourist community, so we never take it for granted to have a new family in our midst.”
Anton, who is visiting her aunt in Destin for the month of June, said that she did not expect to win the essay contest.
“I was excited and surprised,” she said when asked her reaction to the news.