Student Contest

The 2025-2026 "If I Were Mayor..." Student Contest is Open!

Here is how it works...

First, each participating mayor promotes a local contest to select one local winning student in each of the three categories:

• Elementary School (grade 4-5) - Posters Contest (Photo of poster can be PNG, JPEG, or PDF files)
• Middle School (grade 6-8) - Essay Contest (Word, PDF, PowerPoint or online essay format)
• High School (grades 9-12) - Digital Media Presentations (Videos only, MP4 or online video format)

Once your local contest is complete, submit no more than one winning student from each category; elementary, middle and high school to Claire Wilson to be eligible for the statewide competition. 

Local winning submissions must be emailed to cwilson@orcities.org by April 3, 2026. This year the contest is completely digital again. Please do not mail submissions to us.

First place statewide winning students in each of the three categories will win $500, second and third place winning students win $300 and $100 respectively and will receive their prizes at local city presentations.

Questions about the contest? Contact Claire Wilson or call (971) 428-7203.

• If I Were Mayor Student Contest Flyer - English 
• If I Were Mayor Student Contest Flyer - Spanish