RULER and Kids Night on Broadway!

Hi everyone!

Wow - it has been kind of crazy these last couple of weeks! On Tuesday, February 26th, I had the honor of being invited to a Yale conference for mental wellness and happiness that was put on by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. This conference focused on a program that Yale has come up with called RULER. According to their website: “RULER is an evidence-based approach for integrating social and emotional learning into schools, developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER applies ‘hard science’ to the teaching of what have historically been called ‘soft skills.’ RULER teaches the skills of emotional intelligence — those associated with Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating Emotion.” This is a training program for educators all across the state.

Me with my mom, sister Riley, and dad!

At this conference, we were able to take different workshops for what we wanted to learn more about. My first class was about mental wellness in middle schools because pretty soon I'm going to be in sixth grade. The whole class was about how we can help our middle schoolers feel happy and calm at school and at home. The next class I took was about LGBTQ youth and the struggles that they face. The session was mostly about transgender and non binary students at our schools, but it did also talk about lesbian and gay students. I had the opportunity in this workshop to share my experience as a student who is a part of the LGBTQ community and talk to the educators in the room about how to help those students feel more emotionally supported in their schools. I had a lot of fun in both of my workshops and then we got to have lunch! I had chicken and salad. My sister Riley ate a whole chicken!

"I had the opportunity in this workshop to share my experience as a student who is a part of the LGBTQ community and talk to the educators in the room about how to help those students feel more emotionally supported in their schools."

Afterwards, we got in the car and went to New York City. That night was a special event called Kids Night on Broadway. We met our best friends at a pizza place then we went to a show called Come From Away. It was about how when 9/11 happened, people who were flying during the attacks had to  land in Canada and stay there for six days until they could go back home! It was a fantastic show. After the show we had a real treat! The writer of the show had seen some news reports about the Kid Governor program and my platform, so she invited me and my family to head backstage to meet some of the cast and see what it is like backstage on Broadway. I got to meet Jenn Colella! She is a Tony nominated actress and a big advocate for the LGBTQ community. I was thrilled! After that, we slept over in New York City.

The next day I went to school and got back to work on the guide I'm writing. It is all about how to jump start a GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) for elementary school students. I am writing it with my friends who are part of the new GSA at my school. I have also asked my sister to contribute some illustrations ! I hope that at some point, students will be able to read the guide and get some ideas about how to create safe spaces in their own schools.

My question for readers this week is: How can I show love today?

If you notice someone at school who might be struggling in math, science, or English, offer to help them out!

Your Kid Governor, 

-Ella