My Letter to the Mayor

Dear Mayor Menino,

Hi my name is Liz Torres and I am fifteen years old. I am currently working at Save The Harbor / Save the Bay. I live in Hyde Park but in the fall I am going to boarding school in Maine. I recently graduated from Beacon Academy and now I am starting ninth grade at Kents Hill. Since I was young, I knew I wanted to be a Marine Biologist, but once I started working at Save the Harbor I knew for sure I was going to become one. Save the Harbor taught me many things, such as how to fish and how to differentiate crabs from each other. There were several things I enjoyed doing while working for save the harbor. One of the things I enjoyed was being educated enough so that I could educate others about the harbor and the organisms that live in it. Another thing I really had fun with was working with crabs. I always liked them, but I feel like I fell in love with them they are such an interesting species. Overall, I am glad this was my first official job!

In the future, I would like to see that everyone in Boston is aware that the harbor is clean enough to swim in. I know a lot of people that have walked up to me and said, “Is the harbor clean enough to be in?” One way of easily solving that problem is to build more sights for people to go and hang out at near the water, so that they become more aware of it. Some things that could be built are parks for kids. Parks would not only attract children but also the parents. I also think we should have more free events that talk about the history of the Harbor, how it was so dirty, and how it has changed. In those events, they should also talk about how it is clean, but that there is still room for improvement. The more people that care, the better. If these ideas are already being thought about then there should be more advertisements for the harbor e.g., billboards, TV commercials, newspapers, and the internet. The harbor is not the only thing that should be improved, but there should also set up more camps around the Harbor to teach kids about the marine life in the harbor. Some people are not necessarily always interested in water, but I know a lot of people that would care more if we explained how dirty water effects animals. I hope you take my ideas into consideration when you decide to build around the Harbor.

Sincerely,

Liz Torres