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! :)