Guadalupe Youth Photo Contest

The City of Guadalupe and Los Amigos de Guadalupe (LADG) asked Guadalupians 18 years old and under to submit up to two photos. One showing what they saw as the City of Guadalupe’s strength (asset) and one of what they saw as the City of Guadalupe’s weakness (impediment). We asked them to also provide a brief explanation answering the following questions: What should be done to promote or maximize the strength you have pictured? What could be done to improve the weakness you pictured?

On April 13, 2021 the City Council was asked to pick winners for both categories. Each winner will receive a $50 gift certificate for their favorite Guadalupe restaurant.

Note: since all contestants were under 18 years of age, we are using initials.

And the Winners Are:

Impediment Winner

I strongly believe that if parks in our community are taken care of and are well-maintained people will come out more often to use the parks. I know of people that do not like to come out to the Guadalupe parks for one of the main reasons being the Un-maintained parks. They are dangerous for youth and children to run around because the grass is uneven. It also simply does not look good and many youths prefer to go to other places in the nearby communities to hang out with friends. An idea of a simple fix is having clean-up events and have folks in the community come out and help clean and restore our parks. Installing a game area for kids since that is no longer there. Have the community see that Guadalupe is trying to make a change, and allow them to be part of this change. Maintaining our park’s looks should be a priority like Cutting and watering the grass, trimming the trees, and making the whole park looks really nice. With these changes not only will Guadalupe provide a nice place for youth, children, and adults to spend some time outside but also it will help create a strong community.

Asset Winner

This represents Guadalupe’s strengths because for me it shows how our community feels safe around here. It also shows how close and small out community is but even if we are we still care about each other. What I feel should promote this is have more community events since the new homes have brought more people and to celebrate our differences. I also feel that the police department should join those events also so the community knows that we can trust them.

Here are the rest of those that submitted entries, thank you for your submission and we hope you keep up with your photography as everyone had a great eye for Guadalupe.

Impediments Entries

The train picture I think represents what could get better which is maybe not the train but the transportation around Guadalupe are some roads that I have to wait for a while to cross the street. In my opinion there aren’t enough stop signs or crossings. But I love the town and I love living here!

In this next picture you see Guadalupes impediment. Basically Guadalupe’s weakness. In my point of view, we don’t need Graffiti. it is a weakness to Guadalupe because it is something we don’t need. We don’t need paint that will stain and stay there forever. And what happens if we can’t get the graffiti out? That can show a sign of weakness. It can show that we are not responsible. But we are, are we? Because we don’t need graffiti. We don’t need it showing that we don’t care about Guadalupe.

How sad is it that there is graffiti on this train? I think that it is very sad. And it happens. I know it’s part of life but still it looks bad. Like how they put bad words. ANd they say go to hell ( I am not saying that word verbally because it is bad.) I mean teenagers go to jail for that. And some teenagers that see that want to actually do it. They put bad words, say bad stuff and more. And when little kids can read and they see the bad words that are written in the train they can say and their parents are going to get them in trouble. I mean they should get them in trouble but also because they see the graffiti. And they think it’s cool and everything but it’s actually bad. Imagine if your kid does this. How would you feel? What happens if your Teenager goes to jail? How would you feel? I am a Tween (basically saying that I am in between a kid and a teenager) and I know that my parents wouldn’t like it if I did graffiti. I don’t think anyone does.

So tell me is Graffiti a weakness? Is Point Sal hike a Asset to Guadalupe?

You may think that Graffiti isn’t a weakness, but I have presented some evidence about how it can actually have an effect on kids. Especially Teenagers.

For me this is one of the cities weaknesses because the graffiti adds a negative connotation to our reputation. It alado might make tourist not feel welcomed and safe. What I feel should be done to improve this is a repaint through the graffiti that matches the bridge. I also feel that having a park near there is a great idea because people would be busy enjoying themselves and won’t feel the need to graffiti. There should also be more programs for youth thats are free and help them out like leadership programs. So they can also make connections with positive influences because right now there aren’t any. Since there not any and teens have a lot of free time then it’s possible they might fall into the wrong path easier.

Assets Entries

In this photo you will see the Point Sal beach here in Guadalupe. The hike of Point Sal is an asset to Guadalupe because it has nature, a beach, and you can walk (which we all need). It is important because we need nature to survive. The animals too. How do we feed our cats and dogs? We give them food right? Well the same with us. We need food. There in Pont Sal you can relax and get wet. Now it might be a long walk but it is worth it. Your body will thank you because you are out in nature. And the sunset will look beautiful. Just imagine yourself out there probably with your family or yourself alone just having fun. Because that is what we need to have fun.

Doesn’t that look beautiful? And when you get to the beach you can collect seashells. I have a lot of seashells. (The real kind.) And they look beautiful. So I recommend you go on the hike even if it means taking you forever (which I know it won’t.) but at least for an 1 hour or 45 minutes. Go out and have some fun. It has been very hard because of covid. Everything has been in Zoom. And looking at the screen so much is bad. So I recommend you go out and have some fun. Explore. We may not be little kids but we can still have fun.

The photo of the stop sign I think represents the amazing growth of Guadalupe. I feel like as a town and community it is growing and has the potential to become even better than it already is.