Friday, October 22, 2021

The Angel Behind My Platform

Hello everyone!

This week I am coming to you with an important post in memory of my Great Grandma. This weekend, my Great Grandma has gained her angel wings, and because she was the inspiration behind the first point of my platform, I dedicate this week’s blog post to her. 

My 103 year-old Great Grandma was truly the one to inspire me to make the first point of my platform about cheering up residents in nursing homes. During the lockdown, the only way I could see her was by waving to her through the window of her room at Groton Regency, the nursing home in Groton where she lived. I even talked about this in my campaign video!

I knew that I had to do something to help cheer up residents in nursing homes one way or another, so I turned it into one of the steps of my platform. 

Since then, I have done so much with this point of my platform. In February. I encouraged kids to make Valentine’s Day cards for the residents in their local nursing homes! I saw many pictures of cards that kids from other towns made, and the 5th grade classes at my Elementary School made multiple cards each that I hand delivered to The Summit, my local nursing home. The Summit from my town alone got over 1,000 cards from school kids trying to cheer them up! 

Another way I promoted this point of my platform was by holding a Valentine’s Day car parade for The Summit as well. On a Saturday morning, me and the other 5th grade classes all drove down to The Summit with paper decorations, streamers, and signs hanging from our cars. It was so amazing to drive through the parking lot, while holding a big sign out of the sun roof and seeing all of the faces in the windows smile and wave. This is one of my favorite things that I did for this point of my platform!

And finally, to support this point of my platform, I contacted The Summit towards to end of the summer to inquire about dropping off a bunch of notebooks, pens, and colored pencils for the residents that like to write or draw. During this visit, I also found out that The Summit holds a Christmas Shop Day is the winter so that the residents can pick out gifts for their families! I can’t wait to deliver these toys in the winter and see the residents faces!

I also hope to deliver care packages to the residents at Groton Regency in honor of my Great Grandma. Residents there, like my Great Grandma’s roommate don’t have any family to come visit them, so I know that little things like care packages to keep them busy will definitely make them smile!

Thank you all for reading this post today, and I hope this has inspired you to do something for your local nursing home. Now, it’s time for the fun fact of the day!

One of my favorite things my from my Great Grandmother was actually given to me my her daughter, my Grandma. It is a little green purse with dragon embroidered on it that my Great Grandmother actually bought when she went to China. 

Thank you again for reading today! Stay Positive! :)


Monday, October 18, 2021

From the CTKG Cabinet: Leave a Room, Leave It Off

Hi Everyone, 

It's Cora from the CTKG Cabinet and today we are going to learn and talk about some of the steps you can start to take after learning how to create a Green Team in your school (check out my blog post about Green Teams!). Once you've created your Green Team in your school or community, it is time to take the next step! This step is going to focus on the kinds of actions you can take and the third point of my platform: Leave a Room, Leave It Off. 

This point of my platform is all about energy efficiency and saving electricity by doing simple every day tasks. These tasks could include using energy efficient lightbulbs or appliances, shutting off devices when they are not in use, or even just turning the lights off when you leave a room. A lot of people may think that they always do these three things, but in a normal busy day we tend to forget about these actions a lot. There also may be people out there who think doing these things may not benefit them in a way that matters. The less electricity you use though, the cleaner the air you breathe is and the cheaper your electric bill will be. It is kind of a win-win!

What if you don't know how to put these ideas into action at your school? Well, I've got you covered! Often times, it is the simplest actions that are the most effective and, in this case, it is as easy a flick of a switch. To remind people to turn off the lights when leaving a room, you can use my poster below! Ask a teacher or principal for permission to print out and hang these signs up by every light switch in your school so that students and teachers will always remember to turn off the lights. It really is that simple!

Want to do even more to save energy? When I was in elementary school, all students were able to get an energy efficient desk lamp and power strip to reduce the amount of energy we used at home. I still use those two things today! Students in my elementary school class also made posters about how to be an energy saver. These are just some ideas you can try in your school and beyond! Work with members of your school and Green Team to do what will work best in your school. The point is to remind people that small actions make a difference. So remember to take action, no matter what it is you may do.

Don't stop there though! No matter the time of year, it is important to stay active in helping the environment, whether or not that is the theme of your monthly initiative. This weekend, I helped a group of students do a trash clean up (that's me with my dad in the picture) and helped sort recyclable bottles as a fundraiser. I also helped to do volunteer work at the nature center, Earthplace, in Westport, CT. No matter when it is or where you are, do your best to always go green!

Thank you for reading another one of my CTKG blogs! I'll be back for another blog and update soon. Thank you!

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



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