A UNIQUE international millennium project — which could involve every man, woman and child in the town — is about to be launched at Tavistock College.
The school is setting up a website which they want to keep as a permanent record of what people of all ages in the Tavistock area would like to see happening this century.
And the most impressive aspirations stand the chance of winning a prize in a partnership competition between the College and the Times.
Expanding the project further, the school has set up a link with Ndeeda School in the suburbs of Entebbe, Uganda.
The students in Year 7 and 9 are telling their African counterparts about themselves and their hopes and dreams for the millennium.
The Ugandans in turn will be sending their aspirations to Tavistock.
John Simes, College principal, said students have already looked retrospectively at the last millennium, with groups looking at particular centuries or aspects of life.
'I really wanted to develop the theme a bit more and involve us with the community,' he said.
'We had a paper exercise when we invited our Year 7 pupils to contribute their hopes for this millennium.
'We had some amazing responses and these were displayed as a large millennium wall of dreams.
'Now we want to expand this idea to our older students who all have access to our intranet, and to the wider community to contribute their hopes and dreams.'
Ben Furneaux, 14, wants to be a graphic designer when he is older.
He said: 'I want there to be no racism and for everyone to be treated equally.
'I wanted someone to find a religion that everybody could believe in so there would be no more wars.'
Will Gee, who is eleven, has two very different ambitions — to be a commando or work with people with Downs Syndrome.
'I've wanted to do it ever since I was a small boy,' he said.
Emily Blackmore, who is 13, said: 'I wanted all wars to be stopped, with more peace in poor countries.'
Emily, a keen conservationist, wants to care for orangutans when she is older.
'I really love them and want to help them,' she said.
Toni Fitzsimmons, 12, is one of those who has already written to children at Ndeeda School.
She said: 'I wrote about me and what my lifestyle is like and what I was hoping to get for Christmas.
'I wrote about what we do at school and I asked what their school is like.'
Toni said she wants to be a midwife when she grows up — she would like children herself but said she only wanted one husband!
English teacher Wendy Roderick said the pupils have been talking about the differences between an English school like Tavistock College and the school in Uganda.
'We know so little about their lifestyle and a lot of the images the children have of Africa come from turning on the TV and seeing wars,' she said.
Anyone who would like to record their hopes and dreams for this millennium in no more than 100 words can e-mail their ideas to [email protected]">[email protected].
Alternatively you can send them to the principal at Tavistock College or pass them in to the Times office in 42 Brook Street, Tavistock, where they will be collected and handed on to the college.
As many ideas as possible will be displayed on the web site at http://www.tavycoll.rmplc.co.uk">www.tavycoll.rmplc.co.uk — a special link to the site is available from the Times web site, tindlenews.co.uk
The entries will be judged by John Simes and Tavistock's mayor Cllr Roger Mathew — closing date for the competition is February 29.
The best over-16 year-old entry will receive a year's free subscription to the Tavistock Times Gazette — the best junior entry will win a £25 book token.