Dear Mr. President

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Augusta Chronicle invited students to write letters to President-elect Obama detailing what they would like him to do as president. Selected letters are being printed in The Chronicle and posted online at augustachronicle.com/president.

Grand-prize winners in the elementary, middle and high school divisions will be published Sunday through Tuesday.

Dear Mr. President,

I would like to congratulate you on making history by winning this election. There are so many changes in this economy that need to be done, and I personally believe that you're the perfect man for the job.

It's all over the news and the radio about America going through an economic crisis. It was very depressing seeing gas prices shoot up the way they did. I couldn't afford to get to work. I'm so happy and grateful that they have decreased dramatically.

From watching the debates and the multiple campaigns, I noticed that you support gay pride. I don't understand why gay Americans today don't have the right to marry where they please. What is so wrong with gay marriage? I believe it's very unfair. People shouldn't judge about who a person has feelings for.

There are so many problems in America that need to be resolved. But what I want more than anything is for our soldiers to come home. I haven't seen my daddy in over six months. He hasn't been able to make any of my birthdays in the past five years. He hasn't even made it for Christmas. I love my father and I don't want anything to happen to him. If you could bring my daddy home to me, you would be my hero.

Thanks for your time and your patience.

Sincerely,

Brittany Turner

Senior, Hephzibah High School

Dear President-Elect Obama,

Congratulations on your win over Mr. McCain. You've made history in our nation, and you are in inspiration to all. But now it is time to get down to

business. You said you are going to make a change; well you've got some work to do to make it happen.

Your first priority, it should be the war in Iraq, in my opinion. It would be foolish to pull our soldiers out of Iraq. Have you forgotten what happened on that morning in 2001? If you yank them out you would have lost all those lives for nothing. So let's finish that war.

The real problem in our nation today is the economy. You need to dive right into that issue. The economy is bringing down our country. Your focus should be developing a way to stop a Wall Street crash from ever happening again.

The only way you're going to be able to avoid the economy problem from ever happening again is through oil. It's obvious that oil controls this country. When the gas prices went up, which was due to a shortage in oil, the economy crashed? Here's the deal, every hurricane season there is going to be a loss in oil. Therefore, there is going to be more crashes and they're just going to get worse. If it keeps happening we are going to have a great depression. What I'm trying to say is "we need new power sources." Take some money and donate directly to research for finding new power sources for our cars. A power source that is abundant, renewable, and healthy for the government.

Once you focus on the economy, then go and worry about the other issues. Go fix the illegal immigration. Go fix health care and minimum wage. Just fix the economy first. Once again congratulations on the win. I'm looking forward to the big change. You are a great influence to the youth. You truly define you can be whatever you want to. You just have to put your mind to it.

Sincerely,

Morgan Larkin

Eighth-grader, Tutt Middle School, Augusta

Dear President Obama,

I would like to congratulate you on being elected. I know that your whole campaign was based on change, and that's exactly what I would like during your presidency. I like that you're thinking about middle class families, because on the news I heard that the number of kids to apply for free lunch has increased this past year, and I think if you helped middle class families they would be able to afford more things. I also agree with your health care plan, and I hope you follow through with it. Everyone should be able to have health care and kids who have parents that don't have health care should not be neglected because it costs too much.

I know another major issue this year had been the war in Iraq. I think getting the troops out of Iraq as soon as possible would be a good plan. Many people lose their lives over there every day, and if you can't get them out earlier, then I think you should extend their time with their families. I have a friend and her dad is in the army and he is always gone for a long period of time, and when he is about to come home they always extend his time there in Iraq for a couple extra months.

Education is also big, and many kids are dropping out in high school. The others that aren't dropping out are usually in summer school. I think that if we had a better education system then more people would pass tests and be able to move to the next grade. Even with the No Child Left Behind program, kids are still doing poorly in school because they don't understand the curriculum the teacher is teaching or they go to school with the attitude that they are going to fail and end up not caring about school. I hope you take my suggestions into consideration and I wish you the best of luck in office.

Sincerely,

Airehon Harrison

Eighth-grader, Grovetown Middle School, Grovetown

Dear Mr. President,

I would like you to know that I am very excited to have you as our next leader. I believe with the innovation you can bring, we will be able to make it through these four years. During your term, I have three propositions that I would like you to take into account. I would like to see party walls shattered, a peace treaty between the nations of the world, and the development of third world countries to better our world.

I would like you to form a coalition with the Republican Party. This is so that their ideas can be heard and taken into account. Although I supported the Democratic Party during the election season, some of the Republican candidates had some great ideas. I think it is important to hear both sides of an argument and tear down the walls of partisan policies that have been erected between the two parties. By doing this, we will have a better respect for each other and set an example to others to be unified, both in our own country and in the global community.

There has been a great deal of unrest in distant parts of the world. For instance, the War on Terror was started because of suspected production of weapons of mass destruction. My proposition is to have a peace treaty between the nations of the world that would prohibit production of weapons of mass destruction while still allowing a nation to maintain an army, in case of an emergency. Furthermore, every nation must keep their military out of other countries without prior notice to all people of the world. This would eliminate any terrorist threat to any country.

Finally, I think donations to third world countries should be implemented. These countries are very poor and their economic status is just as bad. The donations would help their nations develop, and with more people in the global marketplace, lead to healing the current economic situation for all nations. With these changes, we can succeed in the future. Congratulations, and I wish you a great term.

Sincerely,

Khristopher Rodriguez

Sophomore, Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, Augusta