Friday, July 30, 2021

Summer Fun In The Sun

Hello 5th graders! Lately I have been doing a lot of fun activities outside to promote my Outdoors-A-Thon, the third point of my platform! Let me give you a few ideas about what you can do if you want to have fun outside!

I have been doing a lot of fun activities outside to increase my endorphins! Here are some of the activities I’ve done that you can do too!

  • Sidewalk chalk! I love to play outside with chalk in the summer. I take my bucket out into my driveway and draw something awesome on the pavement. Anybody can do this if they have a few sticks of chalk laying around the house!
  • Riding my bike! In the summer I love to ride my bike. It is definitely one of my favorite summer activities! Sometimes in the summer I take chalk and draw out roads and stop signs on my driveway or the sidewalk and ride my bike through it!
  • Swimming! I don't have a pool, but my friend does! All the time, she invites me over to go swimming in her pool! I love to spend hours jumping into the pool and diving into the deep end. If you don’t have a pool you can go to a community pool in your town, or go swimming at a beach or park!
  • Gardening! I love to plant flowers and vegetables! My family has this HUGE garden box that we made, and we have a bunch of vegetables that we are growing! I also love getting little flower seed packets and planting a bunch of flowers!
  • Walk my dogs! In the summer I like to take my dogs for a walk around my neighborhood. Even if you don’t have a dog or pet to walk with, you can just take a walk yourself! Anything that involves getting outside will make a difference, trust me!

I hope you like some of the ideas I have for my Outdoors-A-Thon! To me, it is important to spend time outside because it increases our endorphins and makes us more positive! Click HERE to learn more about my Outdoors-A-Thon and for information about how to enter it. Remember to submit your activities by August 31! I hope you have a lot of fun this summer!

Now it is time for the fun fact of the week! Are you ready? Here it is!

  • Next school year in the fall, I will be attending Kennedy Middle School in Southington!

Stay Positive! :)


Thursday, July 22, 2021

From the CTKG Cabinet: 22 For The Earth and You

Hi! I’m Cora Aitkenhead, bringing you another monthly blog on how you can help your community and the Earth itself. In my last blog post I talked about starting Green Teams in schools and how you can take the steps to start a Green Team in your school and community.  But once you have a Green Team, what’s your team supposed to do?  In this blog I’ll help you answer that question by talking about the second part of my three point platform: “22 For The Earth and You.” 

22 For The Earth and You:
As many people probably know, April 22nd is Earth Day--the one day a year that we all come together to celebrate the Earth. But is just one day a year enough? No way!!  Caring for the environment is something we need to do throughout the year, and that is what inspired me to come up with the idea of “22 For the Earth and You!”  Instead of just celebrating our Earth one day a year, what if we all celebrated the environment EVERY month on the 22nd?  Not only that, but think of the difference we could make if we all focused on a common goal each month.  So that’s my goal: to share ideas with you for monthly initiatives that I’ll be bringing you each month on the 22nd on this blog.  Then YOU can take these ideas and turn them into real action in your schools.  
Me and my Green Team

What Can You Do?:
Every 22nd I will be posting monthly blog posts teaching new ways that you can help the environment. By tuning in to my monthly posts you will be able to learn about things such as energy efficiency, composting, recycling, environmentally friendly meals, reducing and reusing, and so much more! I have introduced 22 for the Earth and you to my elementary school this past year and we did some great initiatives every month.   I’m sure you and your school can do the same so tune in next month for a deeper look into the first monthly initiative: “Leave a Room, Leave it Off.”

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my blog post and learn how you can help save the Earth and the environment. If you have any questions or ideas feel free to shoot me a message, and make sure to tune in for all my upcoming posts throughout my term as a member of the Connecticut Kid Governor’s Cabinet. Thanks and see you next time!

- Cora Aitkenhead
Kid Governor’s Cabinet 
Meadowside Elementary School
Milford, CT

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

The Capitol

Hello 5th graders! Last month, I had by far the best experience of my term so far!! Let me tell you about it!

I was invited up to the State Capitol to be recognized by the Connecticut General Assembly! The General Assembly is another term for Connecticut’s Legislative Branch and includes every single Senator and Representative in our state government! 

When I first arrived at the Capitol, I started off in a building called the Legislative Office Building. This is where most of the legislative branch works. My mom, dad, teacher Mrs. Chavez, and Mr. C from the Kid Governor program got to come, too. I met Ms. Anne Marie Gallagher who guided us through the Legislative Office Building and Capitol. She took us to meet one of my Southington State Representatives, Representative John Fusco. He was really nice and he was making everyone laugh. Representative Fusco then started talking to me about my platform. He said that he and the General Assembly members were so proud of me and wanted to present a citation to me. A citation (also called a proclamation) is a document that elected officials give out to people when they have done something honorable. I was super excited! He also gave me a set of official State of Connecticut pins, ones you see state officials wear on TV. It was awesome!

Photo credit: Brian O’Connor, House Democrats

After I met Representative Fusco, he and Ms. Gallagher took me into an underground passageway that led into the State Capitol! (I literally am not making this stuff up). When we got into the Capitol, I learned that Representative Fusco and the other representatives from Southington were going to recognize me in the  House of Representatives, the giant room where all the representatives from across the state meet to discuss and pass laws. They all have labeled chairs and a person (the Speaker of the House) stands on a huge podium called a dais  to call on them to speak.

Before I was called to the “floor” of the House of Representatives, I got to meet the Lieutenant Governor, Susan Bysiewicz! It was so cool to meet her in person and I even got to go into her office! One of the coolest things about getting to do this was that she gave me a special pin. It is green and on the front it said “Ella”. This was super cool because Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz told me that it was one of Ella Grasso’s campaign pins, and that Ella Grasso was the first female governor of Connecticut. Ella Grasso who served as governor in the 1970’s!  This was about the coolest thing that had happened to me all day, and quite possibly all week. However, the fun didn’t end there! 

I was so excited to meet Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz!

After I met with  Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz, Representative Fusco and Ms. Gallagher took me to the House of Representatives. It was packed with representatives ! To keep everyone safe during the pandemic, I was the only one of my family allowed to go into the room but my family was able to watch from a balcony above. 

Representative Fusco led me to his seat, and I sat next to him. The Speaker of the House introduced Representative Fusco, and he stood up to speak. I then learned that when a representative wants to speak, they have to ask for permission from the Speaker. If Mr. The Speaker approves, he will say “Proceed” and then the representative has to say “Thank you, Mr. Speaker”. So, it was kind of funny when Representative Fusco said “I’d like to introduce Connecticut’s Kid Governor Reese Naughton, Mr. Speaker?”

Once Representative Fusco introduced me, everyone started clapping! It was so cool to see all of the state officials who support my platform. Then I met Representative Liz Linehan who also represents Southington. She presented me with a pin of the State Capitol. Representative Linehan told me that she is working to  address problems around mental health. You can watch my introduction on the House Floor here!

Photo credit: Brian O’Connor, House Democrats

For the rest of my time at the Capitol, I was able to meet other state officials including Senator Sampson, Representative Gale Mastrofrancesco​, and Representative Donna Veach who all represent parts of Southington. I also spoke with Representative Jason Rojas​, Representative Vincent Candelora​, and Representative Tony Scott about my platform and term as Kid Governor. 

It was super awesome to get to visit the State Capitol. It is definitely an experience I will never forget!

Now! It is time for the fun fact of the week! Here it is…

  • If someone were to ask me what my superpower is as a human being, I would say that my superpower is helping others when they need it most! What is your superpower? 

Stay Positive! :)


Meeting 2022 Kid Governor Makhi

Hello! 5th graders! I hope you all are doing well and having a great new year so far! Today I’m going to tell you about a meeting I attended...