Cabinet Meetings and Commercials

Hey everyone!

I have had a great couple of weeks! First of all, I got to have another Cabinet meeting! Melody, Hayden, Eva, and Reilly were able to join me. It was so amazing to catch up with everyone and hear how their platforms are going. You can read more about them in their own blog posts (Reilly's, Hayden's, Eva's)!

Me with Cabinet members Melody, Hayden, Eva, and Reilly. 

At the Cabinet meeting, we did something very special. We chose the top thirteen finalists for my statewide poster contest! The poster contest was held in cooperation with the State Department of Children and Families as part of their 2019 CT Family Day. The final winner will be selected from those top thirteen and then will be used to promote CT Family Day and helping to find forever homes for children who need them. We had about 80 entries and I'll tel you a little secret: they were all amazing! All of them were so colorful, happy, and cheerful! It took us such a long time to choose just the top 40! I am really proud of all of the people who participated in the contest. You can see the top designs on Facebook HERE.

We also had an Open House at Connecticut's Old State House. The Old State House was open to the public and people could come in, walk around, and learn all about Connecticut's government. The Kid Governor's Cabinet and I were there to greet visitors. It was a lot of fun getting to meet all of you and to hear your stories. I also want to thank all of the people who donated to our collection drive to benefit East Hartford and Hartford food pantries, Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation, and the Winifred House. Oh, and those who signed Hayden's Screen Time Pledge! 

Along with all of that, I shot a special commercial for the CT Sun Pride Night game. I got to meet professional basketball players and I had a really nice time. On July 12th, I will be attending Pride Night for the CT Sun women's basket ball game at Mohegan Sun. I hope a lot of people will come to the game! If you do go, feel welcome to stop me and say "hi!". I would love to meet every single one of you. 

How can you show love today? Think before you speak. Make sure the words you are saying are positive and kind. 

Love you all!

Your Kid Governor, 

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.

True Colors Conference

Last month was really exciting! On Friday, March 22, I went to the True Colors Conference at the University of Connecticut. True Colors is the "largest LGBT youth conference in the country" and has been happening every year since 1994! Every year, thousands of LGBTQ youth and their allies attend this amazing event. I was lucky enough to be asked to be a part of the opening ceremony. I was able to speak to over 2,500 students, teachers, and others about my Pride-Hope-Love platform and my focus on LGBTQ youth safety.

My good friends from the state government, Representative Jeff Currey and State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, also spoke at the opening ceremony. I also got to meet Representative Themis Klarides, leader in the House of Representatives.  Afterwards, I was able to attend several workshops that highlighted the LGBTQ youth experience. There were many different choices but my sister Riley and I decided to go to one where you could decorate a drawstring bag to show how you are unique and diverse. I chose a blue drawstring bag and put rainbows and hearts all over it.

During lunch, my family and I got to eat in a special room with the rest of the speakers. I had two pieces of pizza and a soda. Then it was time for the second workshop of the day. Riley and I both chose something called Genderbread. We decorated gingerbread cookies any way we wanted to to show that gender expression is an individual thing. I made mine with a smiley face, bow tie, and pants. At the end we got to eat them. Mine tasted so good!

At the end of the day we went to one more workshop. My sister and I both went to a dancing workshop. We learned how to salsa dance. Usually in partner dancing, the man gets to take the lead but the focus for the day was teaching everyone how to lead the dance, regardless of gender. It was so much fun and so funny!

The True Colors Conference was truly amazing! I highly recommend that you try to go next year, I know I'll be there!

How can you show love today?
Stand up for someone who you can tell is getting picked on. When you're getting bullied, it's always nice to have a friend.

Love you all!

Your Kid Governor,