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! :)