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 a few weeks back.

A few weeks back in December, I went up to the Old State House for the a Leadership Transition Meeting with 2022 Kid Governor Makhi as well as my final Cabinet meeting. 

I went up to Hartford in the morning, and got to meet Makhi first thing! He was so nice, and even brought me a box of Christmas cookies! 

To start off, we introduced ourselves to each other, as well as our parents and teachers. We then got a private your of the Old State House by Mr. C and Ms. Whipple, who runs the Old State House. We even got to go outside on the balcony! If you haven’t gone to Connecticut's Old State House and taken the tour, I totally recommend it as a fun family activity!

Once we got to my office, we jumped right into a meeting where we got to know each other and ask each other questions about all kinds of things. Makhi talked to me about my term and what it was like to be the Kid Governor, and I talked to him about his platform and what he is looking forward to in his coming term.

After that, we went back downstairs to see our families. We had a little break, then I went up to the green screen room to start our meeting with both of our Cabinets, parents, and some of our teachers. Makhi tuned into the meeting from one of the offices in the Old State House.

Once the meeting started we got to meet each others' Cabinets and do an icebreaker activity. We had an at-home scavenger hunt where we each got a few items that answer questions about us. Me and Makhi brought our items from home to the meeting, and held up what we brought.

 Then, me and my Cabinet got a chance to talk to Makhi and his Cabinet our out experiences this year. Makhi and his cabinet members got to ask us a bunch of questions and we answered them.

Finally, I went into a breakout room with my Cabinet and Makhi went into a breakout room with his Cabinet, and we just got to talk! If you are not familiar with what breakout rooms are, they are separate rooms within a Zoom meeting that allow you to only talk to certain people. I got to talk with my Cabinet for the last time, and we had a fun time!

Finally, the meeting was over and I got to go home. It was a great experience and super fun the meet Makhi!

It’s time! Here is the fun fact of the week! I am very close with my cousin Domanic and one time we went up to the Old State House and took the tour together!

That is it for this week! Stay tuned for Makhi's Inauguration this Friday and have a great day!


Stay Positive! :)

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! :)

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

Library Circuit: Southington, Milford, and Bridgeport

Hello 5th graders! This week, I started my Library Circuit! Let me tell you about the libraries I stopped at and what I did. 

If you haven't heard of my Library Circuit, let me tell you what it is. Each year, the Kid Governor visits libraries across the state to talk about the Connecticut's Kid Governor program and how schools can get involved. I get to meet with other kids and encourage them to run or vote for the next Kid Governor. I also get to talk about my term, the things I've done, my platform, and more. 

Thursday: On Thursday, I started my Library Circuit in my hometown of Southington. I met Mr. C and the

Kid Governor team at Southington Public Library and went over what to expect during the circuit stop. I had already made a Google Slides presentation and wrote a speech. We waited for people to arrive at the library and I was super excited to see my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Chavez, there. Mrs. Chavez is the best teacher ever and I was so excited to see her and catch up. Not only did Mrs. Chavez come but so did Mrs. Rogala! Mrs. Rogala was my principal from Oshana. I was super excited to see her too. 

Once everyone was there (including my best friend, Ava) I got started. I went up to the front of the room and presented my slides. I talked about the Kid Governor program, my platform, what I've done during my term, and then I led an activity. For the activity, the Kid Governor team set up a table that was covered with my paper masks for my Virtual Community Crate. Before everyone left, I asked them to all write a positive message on the masks to be added to the Virtual Community Crate. It was a great way to kick off my Circuit!

Saturday: On Saturday, I had made three more presentations. The first one was at Otis Library in Norwich. There were about five kids that attended (plus some adults) and they asked a lot of great questions. At the end, I asked the kids if they were interested in running for Kid Governor and they all said yes!

For the next two presentations, I went up to the Old State House because the Milford Public Library and Bridgeport Public Library preferred a virtual version of my presentation. These presentations were super fun because I got so many questions! It was super fun to get to inspire kids to run for Kid Governor. You can watch my Bridgeport Public Library presentation HERE and Milford Public Library presentation HERE! 

I can't wait for my next two presentations in Monroe and Hartford on Saturday, September 25!

Stay positive! :)

September Cabinet Meeting

Hello everyone!

I had another meeting with my Cabinet and I can't wait to tell you about it!

When I have Cabinet meetings, I usually go up to the Old State House and take my meeting from a computer there. However, I did this meeting from home. 

When I joined the meeting, I found out that my Cabinet members Claire and Cora were able to go to the Old State House and met each other! I was so excited of them. The other Cabinet member that was on was Nathan.

To start, I asked my Cabinet two ice breaker questions: 

- If you've gone back to school, what was your favorite thing about your first day?

- If you're going to a new school, what is your favorite thing about your new (or old) school?

Cora said that her favorite thing about her new school was the library. Claire said that she hadn't gone back yet but she really had fun at the orientation. Nathan said that his school is a K-8 but she got to see new parts of his school for the 6th graders and that he thought it was cool to explore the different parts of his school.

After that, Mr. Orcutt, another person that works for the CT Democracy center, introduced an ice breaker for us. He put Claire and Cora on a team and me and Nathan on a team. The point was to list as many states in the U.S. as possible and to write them all down. We only had two minutes to do so! I took notes for my team and me and Nathan came up with 14 states. Then, we talked to Claire and Cora and found out that they had come up with over 30 states! It was impressive!

Then, we all gave updates about our platforms and what we've been working on. Cora said that her new school let her put up a bulletin board that had to do with her climate change platform and she got to talk to her classmates about her platform and the Kid Governor program. We all shared what we were excited to be working on with our platforms. I also talked about my summer Outdoors-A-Thon.

Finally, we went over my poster contest and I found out that the winner was from Claire's elementary school! We also talked about how the posters will be on display at CT Family Day which is happening at the end of the month. Me, my cabinet, the 12 finalists, and the winner are all invited and I'm so excited! This meeting was definitely a fun one!

Now, are you ready for the fun fact of the week? Here it is! My favorite subject in school is reading!

Stay positive! :)

Congratulating Karter and the Poster Contest Finalists!

Hello everyone!

This week, I am here to talk to you about the 12 finalists and winner of my Be Positive: Pandemic Perseverance Poster Contest for CT Family Day! Earlier this week, I got an email from Mr. C about who won the poster content! I'm not sure if you remember but in one of my last blog posts, I had talked about how my Cabinet and I helped determine the finalists for my poster contest. We had sent all of the finalists' posters to the DCF where Ms. Jacqueline Ford and her team helped to decide who the winner would be.

After all of that, I got an email that told me who the winner of the poster contest and finalists were! So, the person who won the contest is.....

Karter Wheeler!

Karter submitted a poster that says "Family Fun!". It shows a bunch of board games like Monopoly and Scrabble with all different colors and game pieces Karter's poster was awesome!

Not only was Karter's poster amazing but so were the posters of all the other finalists. All of your posters made me smile and that is what they were meant to do! Thank you all for participating. Every poster made my day and I loved them all. You all did such a wonderful job and I wish every single poster could have won a top prize. Thank you all for participating once again.

Now it is time for my fun fact of the week. Are you ready?

One of my favorite fall traditions is to make a full pot of fresh tomato sauce with my mom! We make it from a basket of fresh tomatoes from the farmers market. We've been doing this since I was little. It is definitely one of my favorite traditions!

Stay Positive! :)

Surprise at the Airport

Hello everyone!

This summer, I stopped at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks and I was pleasantly surprised with something I saw!

When we walked in, there was a SUPER long line that we had to wait in. After about five minutes the line still hadn't moved but I realized that I was standing next to the Kid Governor exhibit at the airport! I knew that Mr. C and some of the Kid Governor team had been granted approval to set up the exhibit at the airport. I never thought I would run right into it!

So, once I saw the exhibit, I ran right up to it to try and find my poster. It was right in the front and I was SUPER excited to see it. I read it and literally learned things that I had forgotten what I had written about when running in the Kid Governor election. Not only did I learn things about my platform, I also learned things I didn't know about my Cabinet members and their platforms. I learned that we shared some of the same hobbies and I learned a lot of stuff about what makes their platforms so important! If you haven't learned about their platforms, make sure to visit CT.KidGovernor.org/cabinet2021. And if you happen to be at Bradley Airport before the end of September, make sure to find the Kid Governor exhibit and learn all about me and my Cabinet!

Now, are you ready for the fun fact of the week? Here it is...

I have visited the Bahamas and an island called Exuma! Exuma is known for their swimming pigs. The craziest part about the swimming pigs is that nobody knows how they got to the island!

Stay Positive! :)

And The Winner Is…

Hello 5th graders! Very recently, I met with my Cabinet to pick the 13 finalists for my state-wide poster contest with The Department of Children and Families! (DCF) Let me tell you how it went! 

On July 17th, I logged on to my computer to join my Zoom cabinet meeting. This time, I was not able to go up to the Old State House because I was away on vacation. So, this time I was joining from my computer!

When the Cabinet members joined the meeting we got started. We started by doing an ice breaker, where I came up with two questions for everybody to answer about themselves. My two ice breaker questions were “What is your favorite ice cream flavor?” and “What is your favorite book, and why?” I loved hearing everybody’s answers!

We continued on with the meeting by sharing our platform updates! I shared about the poster contest and my Outdoors-A-Thon, Houda shared about her Bitmoji classroom, Nathan shared about a poster he was working on, and Cora shared about her “Green Teams” and “22 for the Earth and You” projects. 

We had so much fun looking at the posters together!

Afterwards, a special guest from DCF joined our meeting to talk to us about what she does. Her name was Ms. Jacqueline Ford, and she is the one who is in charge of collaborating with the Kid Governor program on the poster contests that Kid Governors have done in the past and continue to do today. Ms. Ford talked to us a little bit about her job at DCF and about the poster contest.  The theme of this year’s contest was “What is your family’s silver lining during the Covid-19 Pandemic?” Ms. Ford told my Cabinet and me that it was our job to choose our favorite 13 posters, and that DCF would choose the winner from our top 13. She also said that the posters would be on display at the Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester so people could see them. They will also be on display during CT Family Day, which is a yearly event that tons of people go to to celebrate families! 

Ms. Ford left the meeting so we could start picking the top 13 posters. We each wrote down our 5 favorites, and went over all of the posters we liked. It was an incredibly difficult task to narrow it down to 13.  All of them were so amazing and special in their own ways, and my Cabinet and I were wowed by how amazing they all looked! It was so hard choosing the top 13 because they were all so good, that our meeting ran long! It was an amazing experience, seeing everybody's silver lining of a bad situation, and it made my day to see how many positive ideas other kids in CT had! We will announce the winner and finalists soon!

The meeting ended after that, but one very important thing I learned was that Connecticut’s Old State House is open for visitors again! For this summer only, all Connecticut children (and an adult chaperone) can get into museums around the state for free! So, if you would like to come see my office, make sure you come down to the Old State House (for free!) and tour my office!

Now, are you ready for the fun fact of the week? Here it is!

• Since I am on Block Island, I will tell you what I am doing! Every year, a glass blowing company makes 550 “Glass Floats” or glass balls about the size of an orange, numbers them all from 0 to 550, puts the year on them, and hides them around the island! The object of the game is that anybody who visits the island can have fun by participating in a treasure hunt for the balls! And if you find one you get to keep it. The point of this is to get everybody outside and active and since it went along with my platform I thought I’d share it with you! And if you're wondering, I DID find one!

Stay Positive! :)

 

Performing Arts for the Elderly

 Hello 5th graders! You may remember that the first point of my platform is to “Brighten the lives of nursing home residents through positive messages.” During the last week of school, I did a virtual talent show for nursing home residents in my town! Let me tell you all about it!

In the last week of school I did a Virtual Talent Show for The Summit Nursing Home! It was so much fun to watch! One of my favorite parts was getting to participate! I did it with my friends who go to another school in Southington. Together we teamed up and sang a song. 

Some of my favorite acts were these:

• There was this little girl in either Kindergarten or 1st grade. She was dancing and it was so cute! One of my favorite parts was at the end when she did a split.
• There was also this girl in 3rd or 4th grade that was tap dancing. She was so good and it was really cool to watch her!
• My friend Lila in my class plays piano along with her brother. They both played a song and it was awesome! I really don’t know how they did it because they went SO FAST!

A video my friend and I made was last. We sang a song called “Shallow,” but edited the lyrics to fit our time span. We filmed it in my backyard in front of my big hibiscus tree and it looked awesome! I did my act with my best friend Ava and we did awesome together! 

There are other ways to brighten the lives of nursing home residents, like through cards or sending care packages! You can read my ideas for supporting this point of my platform HERE!

Now… are you ready for the Fun Fact of the week? Here it is…

• My best friend goes to DePaolo Middle School in Southington!

 Stay Positive! :)

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! :)

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

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! :)

Get Outside this Summer!

Hello 5th graders! Are you excited for summer vacation? 

Last week I rolled out my Outdoors-A-Thon summer activity challenge! In case you didn’t know, my Outdoors-A-Thon is part of the third point of my Be Positive: Pandemic Perseverance platform. This point focuses on going outside to do fun activities to stay positive, and increase our endorphins! This is how you can participate:

1. Click here to go to the Outdoors-A-Thon webpage at CT.KidGovernor.org and read more about this step of my platform!
2. Scroll down to “How to Participate!” and click on the official Outdoors-A-Thon Activity Tracker (spreadsheet).
3. Once you have opened the tracker, click “File” in the upper left corner, and choose one of the following:
4. Select “Make a Copy” to save a copy to your Google Drive.
5. Select “Download” > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) to save a copy to your computer.

Every time you go outside to go play or do something fun this summer, time yourself and log it into the tracker! You’ll keep track of the date, the activity you did, and the number of minutes you did that activity for.

At the end of the summer, you can go back to the Outdoors-A-Thon webpage scroll down to “How to Participate!” and click on the Outdoors-A-Thon Entry Form.

Using the info you logged on your Activity Tracker, fill in how many activities you did outside over the summer, and the total number of minutes you spent doing all of these activities! Make sure you submit your form by the deadline on August 31st!

I hope you have so much fun with my summer Outdoors-A-Thon, and I hope you choose to participate!

Now, are you ready for the fun fact of the week? Here it is…

My favorite flavor of ice cream is...I don’t know! I love sorbets and sherberts, but I don’t really have a favorite. My go-to ice cream flavors right now are mango and raspberry.

Stay Positive! :)

The Kid Governors of America

Hello 5th graders! I had another amazing opportunity last month! Let me tell you about it!

This weekend, I spent some time at my office in Connecticut’s Old State House for another meeting! This meeting was extra awesome because I got to meet the Oregon and New Hampshire Kid Governors and their Cabinets! (New Hampshire calls their Cabinet the “Executive Council”).

 It was so fun meeting NHKG Charlie and ORKG Taneesh!

I arrived at the Old State House around 1:00pm, and met Mr. Orcutt on the way in. He let me explore a cool exhibit that has a bunch of displays about Connecticut’s history! It had everything from tools that Native Americans used a long time ago to figurines carved from the Charter Oak! I learned so much about Connecticut’s history, and it was so much fun to see!

Something I learned in the museum was that when the Charter Oak fell in a bad storm, people went to get some of the wood for themselves. After so many people were coming to take what they could get, woodworkers collected a bunch of it and carved figurines to sell to people! The Old State House even has some of these figurines in the museum! 

After I explored the museum, Mr. Orcutt and Mr. C brought me up to the green screen room to join my meeting. For the first 30 minutes I got to meet with the other two Kid Governors, and then our cabinets joined us for the rest of the meeting. 

New Hampshire’s Kid Governor is Charlie and his platform addresses Childhood Depression. Oregon’s Kid Governor is Taneesh and he ran on a platform of Stopping Racism. We spent the first part of our meeting asking each other questions, and getting to know each other and our platforms. 

Soon our individual meeting was over and all of the other Cabinet members and guests joined the meeting. There were so many kids there! However, we quickly got down to business, and the presentations began.

Our meeting included members of my cabinet, Oregon's cabinet, and New Hampshire's Executive Council, as well as guest speakers.

One person who presented to us was a man from the National Governors Association, or NGA! His name was Mr. Solt. I learned a lot from him! He said that at the National Governors Association, they help all the governors in the country and come up with solutions to problems governors face in different states.  

Another guest on the call was the Oregon Secretary of State! Her name was Ms. Fagan, and she was awesome! She talked about the story of her childhood and her words were very powerful. She was also really funny and I was seriously trying not to fall off of my chair! Ms. Fagan’s closing message was that we should always be confident in ourselves.

Secretary Fagan was so inspiring!

After her presentation we split into breakout rooms with Kid Governors and Cabinet members who had similar platforms to us, and had discussions together. Our group discussed how a simple act of kindness can brighten somebody's day, and even motivate them to do something positive for somebody else! It was awesome to speak to other students directly, and all of their platforms were very well thought out!

It was an amazing day, and the two other Kid Governors are AWESOME! I hope you will learn more about them! You can learn about New Hampshire’s Kid Governor Charlie at NH.KidGovernor.org and about Oregon’s Kid Governor Taneesh at OR.KidGovernor.org.

Now, fun fact of the week. Here it is!

• Since I, and many of you out there, are graduating from our elementary schools, I thought I’d share something with you! My mom and I have a tradition that on the last day of school we go straight to get ice cream to celebrate!!!

Stay Positive! :)

 

From the CTKG Cabinet: Meet Nathan!

My name is Nathan Williams and I go to Kennelly School in Hartford. I'm a member of the Kid Governor's Cabinet, and my leadership qualities include being kind, helpful, a good team player, and a great listener. I like to draw, play basketball and football, watch TV, and play video games in my free time. I have lived in Connecticut for 5 years.

On March 24th (the day before my birthday!), I got approval from my school principal to speak via the intercom during morning announcements. I was so glad to be given the opportunity to speak to all the children at my school about how they can encourage their families and friends to eliminate racism. I did this to encourage everyone to see people for who they really are not see them based only on their skin color or where they come from. Oh, also my Mom told me that racism began as a way to divide people and for some people to gain power over others. So I believe it can be eliminated if we accept people for who they are and look for the similarities in people instead of the differences.

I plan on doing another announcement in my school soon. It would also be great if those of you reading this blog would try to have a conversation with your family and friends and encourage them to spread love and understanding and not indifference. Maybe if we all do this then we can eliminate racism one day! 

-Nathan Williams
Kid Governor's Cabinet
Kennelly School
Hartford, CT

From the CTKG Cabinet: Visit Your Local Book Store!

Hi, everyone! My name is Claire and I am a member of CTKG Reese's cabinet. My platform is "Stronger Together" and focuses on promoting anti-racism. I'm so excited to tell you all what I did a few weeks ago! I went to one of my local independent bookstores, Savoy Bookshop and Cafe in Westerly, Rhode Island, to meet the manager, tour the store, and learn more about diverse books. There is also a sister store, Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut. We filmed a video of my experience which will be shared here soon. The manager of the store, Ms. Kelsy, was so kind and introduced books to me about anti-racism, diversity, holidays, and cultural traditions! She told me that Savoy works very hard to welcome and include all people.

Savoy Bookshop has a great selection of inclusive books!

Books are super important! They contain a ton of cool information about other cultures, stories about all kinds of characters, and can teach about serious topics like racism. During my visit, Ms. Kelsy and I were able to take a look at several diverse picture books, non-fiction books about activism and anti-racism, and a variety of terrific young adult novels that were all super interesting!

If you are interested in learning more about issues around racism, other cultures, or activism, you can find great books at your local independent bookstores, public library, school library, in your classroom, or even online to download and read! I highly recommend this as you can learn so much from books and read wonderful stories. If you are not sure what to select, just ask. A store employee or your librarian will be happy to help you find what you're looking for.

Librarians and book store staff can help you find exactly what you're looking for.

 
My visit to Savoy was super fun, too. Savoy Bookshop has such a lovely interior! While looking around to find and discuss books with Ms. Kelsy, I had an amazing time! I went with my mom and a teacher from my school, Mrs. Temel! If you haven't been to a bookstore lately, or ever, I hope you will find one to explore.

Please consider visiting your local independent bookstore for anti-racist books or books that are wonderfully diverse! Check out this list to see if there is an independent bookshop near you!

Thank you so much for reading. My video is coming soon!

-Claire Li
Kid Governor's Cabinet
West Vine Street School
Stonington, CT

From the CTKG Cabinet: Houda's Bitmoji Classroom

Hi! My name is Houda Jaouad and I am a fifth grader at Casimir Pulaski Elementary School in Meriden, CT. I am a member of the Connecticut Kid Governor's Cabinet and am working on my platform to stop body shaming. Explore this bitmoji classroom to learn about the effects of body shaming and what you can do to help.

 

To view this in another tab, click here.

- Houda Jaouad
Kid Governor's Cabinet
Casimir Pulaski Elementary School
Meriden, CT

Positive Posters

Hello 5th graders! This week something exciting is happening! Let me tell you all about it.

This week I am launching my statewide poster contest! I'm so excited! To make this poster contest happen, I am partnering with Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) and CT Family Day. This contest supports the second point of my platform, “Create a virtual community crate and coordinate a statewide poster contest for positive messages by and for students.”

I was so excited for this contest, I even made my own poster for the participants to see! The theme of the poster contest is about showing your family’s “Silver Lining” to the pandemic. A silver lining is how people describe something good that comes out of a bad situation. So, for example, my sample poster featured my silver lining which is being able to help others! I hope you like it!

I was so excited to make this poster!

The rules for the poster contest are:

• Open to all Connecticut 5th graders.
• Art must be on 8.5×11 white paper.
• Color pencils, crayons, paint, and markers permitted
• Bold colors look best!
• Must include at least one handprint (drawn or traced).
• Must be entrant’s original, hand-drawn creation.

Completed Permission Form, art description, and a scan or photograph of artwork must be emailed or shared via Google Drive with Brian.Cofrancesco@ctdemocracycenter.org by Friday, June 11th.

Original hard copies of artwork must be mailed to The Connecticut Democracy Center, 21 Oak Street, Suite 309, Hartford, CT 06106 and postmarked by the deadline.

My Cabinet and I will be the judges of the contest, and we will be choosing twelve finalists and one winner. Did I mention the cool reward that comes with being a finalist or winner of the contest? Your poster will be on display in my office at Connecticut’s Old State House in Hartford and you will be recognized at a special CT Family Day event in September!

I hope you will submit a poster design and share your silver lining and positive message for students!

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

I love to cook and bake with my mom! Sometimes I make my family dinner!

Stay Positive! :)

Kid Governors Old and New

Hello 5th graders! This weekend I got to meet somebody special that I can’t wait to tell you about!

This weekend, I made a trip up to Connecticut’s Old State House to have another Cabinet meeting. This time the meeting was earlier in the morning, so I had to be there at 9:45. When I got there, Mr. C. let me in, and I went up to the filming studio and got ready for my meeting. This was the first Cabinet meeting where I didn’t have to record a speech before it started. 

2016 CTKG Elena joins us for a Cabinet meeting!

After a few technical issues, I started my cabinet meeting! The first thing we did was start with an ice breaker. Every meeting, I come up with a question that my Cabinet can answer. This month’s question was, 

What are you looking forward to at the end of the school year that is not summer vacation? 

I answered that my class has a class day at the end of the year, where the classes do something fun or make it a field trip day to celebrate the end of the year. Cora, one of my Cabinet members, said that at the end of the year her school in Milford has a 5th grade farewell, where her school throws a huge outdoor party for the 5th graders.

Next, we had a special guest, 2016 Kid Governor Elena Tipton! She joined the meeting and led our second ice breaker by playing hangman with us! A few of the words we had to guess were Old State House, CTKG, and Nutmeg. Before she left, she spoke to me and my Cabinet, and we took a group picture with her! 

Afterwards, we all gave updates on our platforms and what we have been working on. Then we discussed our upcoming poster contest! We have decided that it will launch this week, so look out for it so you can participate!

Then we finished our meeting! It was a super fun day!

Stay Positive! :)

From the CTKG Cabinet: Creating Green Teams in Schools

Be the Change

Hi! My name is Cora Aitkenhead. I am a fifth grader and a member of CTKG Reese’s Cabinet. The first point of my three point platform is called “Be the Change.” This point encourages students to form “Green Teams” in their schools to learn about the environment and do projects around their school. Each Green Team will inform others about good choices for our Earth and make their school a better place. Our Cabinet recently spoke with school superintendents at the State Department of Education's Alliance District Symposium, and they wanted to know how they could support my platform. I told them the best way is to support Green Teams in their schools. I wanted to give you all information about how to create Green Teams and why doing this might be a good fit for your school. 

What is a Green Team? 

A Green Team is a group of students that take part in environmental projects for their school or community. They make the rest of the school aware of environmental issues. 

How do you form a Green Team? 

• Step 1: Find students that are interested in taking part in environmental projects. One approach might be to ask any students interested in the environment to be part of your school’s Green Team.  Another approach might be to have a student from each class or each grade level be a representative on the Green Team.  That way, those students can tell and teach their class or grade level what environmental projects they can work on.  There is no one right way to start a Green Team in your school.  Whatever works for you, you should do!  But getting this started often needs a motivated student to get things started so maybe that motivated student is YOU!

• Step 2:  Find a teacher or a parent to supervise your Green Team. Ask around and try to find a teacher or parent who cares a lot about the environment.  Tell them why these issues are so important to you and ask them to help you organize your Green Team.

• Step 3:  Figure out which school leaders and staff can do the most to help your Green Team. Once you have a team of students and an adult leader, think about asking a custodian, a cafeteria worker, a principal or vice principal, or others to be part of your team.  A lot of times it is people like these that can help make your projects work, so talking to them and working with them is an important step.  

How should the Green Team Run?

Every school is different so you need to figure out what will work for your school.  But a Green Team should probably meet about once a week or every 2 weeks to talk about what to do and how to do it. What exactly should your Green Team do? Well I’m glad you asked! In addition to creating Green Teams, the second part of my platform is called “22 for the Earth and You.”  Rather than celebrate our planet just one day a year on April 22nd (Earth Day), I think we should celebrate the Earth on the 22nd of every month. I will write more blog posts with different ideas about how you can celebrate the Earth, but for now, here is a sneak peak at some of the things your team can do.   

Projects a Green Team Can Work On 

• Monthly “22 for the Earth and You” Themed Projects

• School Gardens and Planting

• Composting

• Writing letters to local politicians 

• Making Recycling Posters or Policies for the School 

• Earth Day Activities in April 

See you for my next blog post! Until then, Go Green Connecticut!

- Cora Aitkenhead

Kid Governor’s Cabinet 

Meadowside Elementary School

Milford, CT