Recording My Training Webinar for Teachers

Hey everyone!

It has been a busy few weeks. I finally crossed off my teacher training platform point by presenting a webinar on May 20th. A webinar is kind of like a free podcast that anyone, anywhere can listen to on their phones, iPads, and computers. My webinar was about helping parents, teachers, or anyone who works with children to know how to properly support a child in the LGBTQ community. It was hosted by the State Department of Education. We had a professional trainer named Sarah Free who works at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She is so kind and she specializes in helping people learn to work with LGBTQ students. We also had a student named Luis Cruz from East Hartford High School come and share his personal stories of coming out as gay and being openly part of the LGBTQ community.

Me with Luis and Sarah Free after the webinar. 

I want to thank both of these people so very much from the bottom of my heart for helping me make this happen. I am so grateful, and I couldn't have done it without them. I would also like to thank everyone that has listened to the webinar or will listen to it. I am so thankful that this came out as well as I wanted it to!

I also received a card from some supporters from Nova Scotia, Canada! So here is a special shout out to Evelyn and Joanne for such a kind letter to me. It really brightened up my day!

How can you show love today? Maybe you can help clean up at school or at home without being asked to. It will really make someone feel happy!

Love you all!


Your Kid Governor,

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

You can watch CTKG Ella's Pride-Hope-Love webinar HERE or below.

This webinar was a part of Kid Governor Ella's three-point Pride-Hope-Love platform for LGBTQ+ youth safety and was sponsored by the Connecticut Democracy Center.

Click HERE to access resources from the webinar.

From the CTKG Cabinet: Eva Greenspan

Hi! My name is Eva Greenspan and I was one of the seven finalists in the 2018 Connecticut's Kid Governor Statewide Election. I'm currently working on the Kid Governor's Cabinet with 2019 CTKG Ella!

My platform is about the issue of child poverty. I decided to help prevent child poverty because, in my lifetime, it has always made me feel bad seeing homeless people on the streets, especially when there is a child with them. I have always wanted to help them. When my teacher told us about the Kid Governor program, I thought this would be the perfect time to help! I am so excited to be a part of the Cabinet and I think that Ella is doing an amazing job with her platform!

Me and Ella on Inauguration Day!

Throughout this whole year, I have held collection drives in my school, Norfeldt Elementary in West Hartford, to help support my platform. We have had a spare change drive, a winter gear drive, and we are now in the middle of a toiletry drive. For the spare change drive, we raised $500 to donate to Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation in Hartford. During our winter gear drive, we filled over 10 huge trash bags with hats, coats, gloves, mittens, scarves, snow pants, and boots to donate to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Our toiletry drive will end in about a week and we have already gotten a lot of donations! I am so excited to present the toiletry and spare change donations to the Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation!

Me standing next to the toiletry donations.

I hope this program has inspired you to make a difference! If this has inspired you, I would love to hear what you are doing to make a difference. Share what you've been doing to make a difference by emailing info@kidgovernor.org! You can also send me your questions there too. 

-Eva

Eric G. Norfeldt Elementary School

West Hartford, CT

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

On Saturday, June 8th, CTKG Ella and Cabinet members Eva, Hayden, Melody, and Reilly attended Open House Day at Connecticut's Old State House. While at the event, the Cabinet held a collection drive for nonperishable food items and toiletries. Hayden also was collecting signatures for his Screen Time Pledge to encourage students to cut back their screen time. 

The Connecticut Democracy Center and the Kid Governor Team would like to thank all of the visitors to the museum who donated to the collection drive and helped to support the platforms of the Kid Governor's Cabinet. To learn more about the Cabinet, click HERE. 

From the CTKG Cabinet: Hayden Xhokaxhiu

Hello, my name is Hayden Xhokaxhiu, one of the six finalists in the 2018 Connecticut's Kid

Governor Statewide Election. I'm now working on the Kid Governor's Cabinet with 2019 CTKG Ella!

I ran for Kid Governor because I realized a big problem that even I had. People, including kids like us, spend way too much time using electronics. Humans these days don't seem to understand the beauty in this world. Instead, they are on their phones, computers, TV, etc. So when I realized this had been going on, it truly motivated me to do something about it.

What Overuse of Electronics Can Do To You
When I say "what overuse of electronics can do to you," I mean what they can do to you over time if you use them too much. I don't want you to read this and then break your computer! Technology is one of the biggest resources in the world for information, knowledge, and education. Use your electronics to your advantage, not your disadvantage. Using electronics in a negative way is when they gain "control" over you. Another word for this is called an addiction. When you use too much screen time, it causes some side effects. For example, eye damage, a glaring effect, in which the bright light from the electronic screen can cause your eyes to have blurry vision and can cause headaches. These consequences can lower your ability to learn in school which can cause you to struggle later in life.

How You Can Lower Screen Time
You can lower your screen time by first making a commitment to yourself. What I did was read more. Then I started to step it up and do some different activities, like join a basketball team in town in addition to playing soccer. I chose to play outside more with my buddies in the neighborhood. When you do this, it gives you things to do other than just sitting, head bent, looking down at your phone. You can also attack this problem differently than I did. You could play with your friends, take an art class, take part in a club, or go swimming in a pool or at the beach on beautiful summer days.

You can also track your screen time and as weeks go by, you can try to lower it even more until you reach your goal. A good goal is about one hour a day of electronics time. That means only spending seven hours a week instead of twenty hours playing addicting games-- yes, this means Fortnite!

What I'm Doing to Help Others on this Issue
I'm encouraging 5th graders at my school to do other things instead of using electronics like playing

outside, doing crossword puzzles, and playing games with your family. Next, I have created a pledge that I am including in this post (click HERE!) where kids can sign it and use the screen time tracker that comes with it. It is one week long and helps to track how much you have decreased your screen time. Keep using it every week until you have reached your goal! Half of my class has signed the pledge and taken on the challenge. Finally, I am brainstorming ideas for a "shout-out program" that highlights the kids who have greatly decreased their screen time over summer break.

I'd love to hear how much screen time you've cut out during the week! Email me at info@KidGovernor.org to tell me about it. You can also visit CT.KidGovernor.org/cabinet2019 to read about the other cabinet members.

Thanks for reading!

-Hayden
Pleasant Valley Elementary School
South Windsor, CT