CTKG Ella's Poster Contest & Meet the Cabinet on June 8th!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Democracy Center...

Earlier this week, Connecticut's Kid Governor Ella announced her partnership with the Department of Children and Families for their CT Family Day Poster Contest. Fifth graders across the state of Connecticut are invited to create a piece of original artwork that shows what Pride-Hope-Love means to their families. The winning piece of artwork will be incorporated into a poster or a calendar used to promote CT Family Day 2019.

For Contest Rules and Information, visit CT.KidGovernor.org/CTKGElla/poster.

All submissions for the contest should be emailed to Ella@CT.KidGovernor.org by Friday, June 7, 2019.

Along with the poster contest, the Connecticut's Kid Governor team announced that CTKG Ella and members of her Cabinet will be at Connecticut's Old State House on Saturday, June 8th for Open House Day. Ella, Melody, Reilly, and Hayden will be meeting with constituents and visitors from 12pm to 1pm during the event. Visitors are encouraged to support the Cabinet members by:

• Bringing a canned good or non-perishable food item to support Melody's Food for All platform
• Bringing a toiletry item such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, etc. to support Reilly's Fostering Friendships platform and Eva's platform to end childhood poverty. 
• Signing Hayden's Screen Time Pledge to reduce the amount of time on mobile devices or computers to support his platform to Limit Time Spent on Electronics. 

To learn more about the event, download the flyer HERE.

Learn more about the Cabinet by clicking HERE. 

From the CTKG Cabinet: Reilly Bard

Hello everyone!

I am Reilly Bard, one of the seven finalists in the 2018 Connecticut's Kid Governor Statewide Election. Now I am working on the Kid Governor's Cabinet with 2019 CTKG Ella!

Me and CTKG Ella in her office during Inauguration Day 2019!

I ran a platform of foster care and adoption. Someone near and dear to my heart was in foster care and was then adopted. He was brought into a loving home where his adoptive parents made his transition between home and school as smooth as possible. Not all foster care or adopted children have that same experience. I wanted to help! My three-point platform plan included:

1. Create a Fostering Friendships Club-- a club designed to bring students living in foster homes, students who have been adopted, and students willing to make connections with these children together in hopes of developing true friendships. 
2. Hold fundraisers to support this cause.
3. Create a blog to inform and celebrate what cool activities these students are participating in. 

Since the Statewide Election, I have been super busy. With the help of my amazing social studies teacher, Mrs. Chavez and awesome school social worker, Miss Reney, I have visited the Winifred House, a Bridge Family Center Short-term Assessment and Respite Home (STAR) for young women, in Southington. I met Michael Rulnick, Director of Residential Services, Doreen Tarascio, Director of Communications, and other essential staff members that make the Winifred House a great place for young women to live in. While on this visit, I learned that I, along with my classmates, could make their stay more special.

I created a fundraiser where students could not only give to a great cause but could also have fun while doing it! During an assembly, I rolled out the fundraiser to my peers. This fundraiser began with a pajama day! Each day students brought in items such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and body wash. After one week, I collected over 380 items to give to the Winifred House.

Me with some of the items that students in my school donated for the Winifred House.

My next fundraiser will benefit students in foster care and adoption though the Klingberg Family Center. Stay tuned for what comes of that. It's very exciting!

If you would like to support my platform, you can donate to my Fostering Friendships Club, become a foster parent, or reach out to the Klingberg Family Center to ask how you can help.

I'd love to hear how you are making a difference regarding foster care and adoption in your community. Email me at info@KidGovernor.org to tell me about it! You can also visit CT.KidGovernor.org/cabinet2019 to read about the other members of the Kid Governor's Cabinet.

Thanks for reading!

-Reilly
Plantsville Elementary School
Southington, CT

My First Meeting with my Cabinet!

Hey everyone!

We had our first cabinet meeting this week and it was so much fun! The Kid Governor Cabinet includes the six other finalists from the Statewide Election back in November. The members of the cabinet are Eva, Hayden, Jason, Madison, Melody, and Reilly. They are all such nice people and it is an honor to be able to work with them.

At the meeting, we got to know each other a bit more by completing a scavenger hunt that was set all over Connecticut's Old State House. We had to solve clues to bring us to our next location and then take selfies with an iPad to prove that we had solved the clue! One of the clues brought us to the downstairs costume room and we all had to dress up in fun costumes. I dressed up as a 90s rock star, Eva was a lion, Jason was a basketball player, and Melody and Reilly were circus performers! We all had a great time.

After the scavenger hunt, we shared a pizza dinner together and then it was time to get down to business. We held our meeting in the Kid Governor's Office (which was once the Grown Up Governor's office). The first thing we discussed was how we were all doing with working on our own individual platforms. I updated the Cabinet on my progress with the guide I am writing to start GSAs in schools, the teacher webinar that I am working on to train educators on LGBTQ issues, and the poster contest I'd like to run to help advocate for foster homes for LGBTQ youth.

Eva mentioned how she had run a toiletry drive at her school to help get needed supplies for families who may not be able to afford them. Reilly did a blanket and pillow collection at her school to donate to local foster homes. Melody has been organizing food drives at her school to benefit local food pantries. Jason is building a Little Library in his community. Hayden is running a screen-free week with a screen-free pledge. We all brainstormed ideas about what we can do to help each other achieve the goals we set during our campaigns. We then went into a Facebook Live video where we answered questions from our constituents. If you go to the CT's Kid Governor Facebook page, you can watch the video!

Overall, it was an amazing experience to get to know and work with such a passionate group of students who obviously care a lot about their causes. I can't wait until our next meeting!

How can we all show love today? You can work hard in school to always be a role model for others by being kind not only to other students but also the adults in the building. Your teachers love you, make sure to show your love back!

Love you all!

Your Kid Governor,

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Democracy Center...

Stay tuned for upcoming guest blog posts from the six cabinet members to learn all about the incredible work that they are each doing in their communities!