From the CTKG Cabinet: Maddy at the State Capitol!

Last month, I had the chance to visit the Connecticut State Capitol with Kid Governor Makhi and my fellow Kid Governor Cabinet members!

The whole day was awesome and really fun and I wanted to share my three favorite things about our visit with you!

 

1.    The best part of the day for me was getting to meet the real "grown up" Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz!  Lt. Governor Bysiewicz told us all about Ella Grasso who was the first female governor of Connecticut.  We learned that Governor Grasso was actually the first female governor in the entire country to be elected to the office on her own merits (not as the wife of a former governor)!  Lt. Governor Bysiewicz even gave us campaign pins from when Ella Grasso ran for office.

 

2.    A really cool thing about the State Capitol is that there is an underground tunnel that connects the main building to the Legislative Office Building across the street.  We walked back and forth in the underground tunnel between these buildings a bunch of times during the day!

3.    I really liked seeing the legislators in session.  We got to watch them take a vote on the floor of the General Assembly.  We also learned that legislators can vote from their computers if they can’t be in the room itself.  When I was meeting with Representative Henry Genga (my representative in East Hartford) he had to stop for a moment to vote on his laptop and showed us how voting works!

I really loved my visit to the State Capitol – especially getting to see how our government works in person!

Madelyn Sweet 

2022 Kid Governor Cabinet 

Dr. Thomas S. O’Connell School

East Hartford

From the CTKG Cabinet: Satvik at the State Capitol!

Hello, 5th Graders of CT! My name is Satvik and I am a member of the 2022 Connecticut Kid Governor's Cabinet with the platform of Climate Change.

On Tuesday, April 26th, my fellow Cabinet members and myself were given the rare chance to visit the Connecticut State Capitol and meet some of our state leaders. Today, I want to share with you all the details of this amazing experience!

First, we took a tour of the State Capitol and learned about Connecticut’s rich history. We learned so many cool new facts! We viewed statues and pictures of war heroes that sacrificed their lives for our nation. The stories of our state heroine, Prudence Crandall, and state hero, Nathan Hale, especially impressed me.

Next up was the most exciting part of the day - we got to meet Governor Ned Lamont! I was able to talk to him about increasing the number of eco-friendly electric school buses. He was very nice and friendly. It was truly a privilege to speak with him!

Soon after, we were interviewed by WTNH 8 reporter Dennis House. It was so much fun to be interviewed and even have the interview telecasted on TV. I’m so thankful to WTNH 8 for their time and encouragement!

We also got an opportunity to watch the House of Representatives in session. We learned how they vote on important bills, and they even gave us a standing ovation when we were formally introduced!  I was able to meet my state legislators: Senator Eric Berthel, Representative Cindy Harrison, Representative David Labriola, and Representative Bill Pizzuto. I talked to them about banning styrofoam in Connecticut and including climate education in our curriculum. They were very friendly as well, and even honored me with a citation from the General Assembly! We also met the Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, who explained to us the process of how bills and laws are made.

Finally, we visited the Connecticut Supreme Court. The murals painted on the ceiling were simply magnificent! The friendly guide taught us about the court proceedings. It was so much fun to learn about the current and previous judges. The Supreme Court is connected to the Museum of Connecticut History, which also had a great collection of historical items including the original Royal Charter of 1662 still in perfect condition!

I’m very thankful to The Connecticut Democracy Center for organizing this incredible and memorable day. Readers, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. See you again soon! 

Satvik Nog

2022 Kid Governor Cabinet 

Southbury
Long Meadow Elementary School

Visiting the State Capitol with My Cabinet!

Hello students, this is Makhi Ettienne-Modeste, your 2022 Connecticut's Kid Governor. I'm back with another blog post about my term in office.

There is a lot to talk about! On Tuesday, April 26th, I had an amazing visit to the State Capitol with my Cabinet. 

I got to meet so many influential state leaders and learned a lot of new things about how state government works! One fact I learned is that when the House of Representatives votes to pass a House Bill (sometimes shortened to H.B.), it goes to the Senators for approval before it goes to the Governor! Senate Bills (S.B. for short) start off in the Senate, and if they are passed there, they go to the House for approval. Representatives vote "Yea" or "Nay" (Yes or No) on each bill by pressing a button at their desk or on their computers, which sends their votes to a big electric board in the House Chamber. If a bill passes both the House and the Senate, it goes to the Governor's desk. When the Governor gets a bill he can either veto it, sign it, or table it (take no action) for five days (after five days the bill becomes a law automatically). 

Of course I even got to meet the Governor in the flesh! He was so nice and funny. One day I hope I get to be a Governor too! I even got to sit in his chair! 

My Cabinet and I also got to meet Susan Bysiewicz, the Lieutenant Governor. We asked her many questions about her role as Lieutenant Governor and we also got to sit in her chair too! 

In all it was an amazing day and I learned a lot about what goes on in the Capitol! And most importantly, I was able to talk to my elected officials and our Executive Officers about my Protecting Our Pets platform. It's so important to raise awareness of the issues that matter to us. Even as kids, we have the ability to make a difference and make our voices heard. Even if you can't meet with your legislators or governor in person, you can write them a letter to let them know about the things you'd like to change in your community. Our elected officials want to make our towns and state a better place, and they want to hear from you!

Thank you for reading, and always remember to treat companion animals with kindness and P.O.P. (Protect our Pets!)

Makhi Ettienne-Modeste

2022 Kid Governor 
John F. Kennedy School

Windsor

Announcing the Winner of My "Protecting Our Pets" Poster Contest!

Hello everyone! My name is Makhi Ettienne-Modeste and I am the 2022 Connecticut’s Kid Governor, and I have an exciting update on my "Protecting Our Pets" poster contest.

On April 29, I spoke at a press conference at the Connecticut Humane Society to recognize April as Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month. The special guests were U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General William Tong, Commissioner of Agriculture Bryan Hurlburt, Bureau Chief of External Affairs at the Department of Children and Families Ken Mysogland, and Connecticut Humane Society Executive Director James Bias. During the press conference, I got to announce the winner of my poster contest! To find out who won, you can keep reading this post or you can watch the speech and announcement I made on April 29th by watching the video below!

As I discussed in my last blog post about the poster contest, my Cabinet and I carefully studied each poster submission and selected the contest finalists a few weeks ago at one of our Cabinet meetings.  Once we had narrowed the many, MANY posters down to a top thirteen, representatives from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Children and Families joined me to choose the winner. It was very hard to choose the finalists and winner of the contest because I all liked their posters. But I am excited to announce the poster submitted by Danielle Chrostowski from Stamford as the winner of the "Protecting Our Pets" poster contest! 

Danielle is a 5th grader at Greenwich Catholic School in Greenwich. She described her artwork as “an earth with a dog on it. On top, it also says 'kindness.' This resembles how everyone on Earth is kind to animals.”  

I love that her poster is very colorful and that the paw prints show the kindness we can show towards animals. It’s really cute and the poster stood out from the others. I want to thank Danielle for submitting her artwork. She did a really good job and I think that she should do something connected to art when she grows up. 

I think Danielle’s poster is important today as we talk about preventing cruelty to animals and children. The poster shows the whole Earth and says “kindness” which to me means we should show kindness to everyone, both people and animals. I hope the poster inspires kids and all people in Connecticut to spread kindness and speak up for animals and children who need help. 

I want to thank the Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Humane Society for partnering with me on a virtual educational program that fulfilled the first point of my platform, and the Department of Agriculture and DCF for working with me on my statewide poster contest to fulfill the second point of my platform. 

Thank you to everyone who submitted a poster, and thank you for reading my blog. Remember to treat everyone with kindness and to P.O.P. - Protect Our Pets!

From the CTKG Cabinet: Brian at the State Capitol!

A note from the staff of the Connecticut's Kid Governor® program:

On April 26th, Connecticut's Kid Governor Makhi Ettienne-Modeste and his Cabinet were invited to visit the State Capitol building in Hartford, Connecticut. Makhi, Brian, Elizabeth, Madelyn, Olivia, and Satvik (and their families) had the opportunity to take a tour of the State Capitol with the League of Women Voters, met with Governor Ned Lamont in his office, did a television interview with Dennis House for his "This Week in Connecticut" program on WTNH, were introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives, met with their legislators for one-on-one meetings, visited with Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and took a tour of the State Supreme Court and Museum of Connecticut History.  

In the following weeks we will be publishing blog posts from Makhi and his Cabinet members about the highlights of their visit to the State Capitol. Here is our first blog post from Cabinet member Brian Wright; stay tuned for more!

*****

Hello again everybody! My name is Brian Wright, and I am a member of the CTKG Cabinet. I ran for Connecticut's Kid Governor on the platform of Physical Activity in Schools, a topic I am very passionate about. I was very excited to visit the State Capitol and to speak with my legislators about this important issue.

My experience at the capitol was amazing! After a tour of the Capitol, I got to talk to Governor Lamont in his office.

I even got to do a TV interview with Dennis House! Later we were introduced in front of the entire House of Representatives before going into meetings with the legislators who represent our home towns. I got to talk to many representatives outside the House Chamber before meeting with Representative Catherine Abercrombie and Representative Michael Quinn who represent my home town of Meriden. 

It was such a fun day! I learned so much about the history of the Capitol and loved seeing all of the statues and other cool things. The biggest highlight of the day was meeting with Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz and getting to sit in her chair. It was amazing!

I was so happy to visit the State Capitol. It was long and tiring day, but it was also a lot of fun!

Brian Wright

2022 Kid Governor Cabinet 
Casimir Pulaski Elementary School

Meriden

From the CTKG Cabinet: Maddy's White House Interview with Kalisha Figures

Hi everyone, I am CTKG Cabinet Member Maddy Sweet, and I wanted to provide an update on some of the things I've been doing since joining the Kid Governor's Cabinet!

Last month I got to go to the White House where I had the amazing opportunity to meet with Kalisha Figures who is the Special Assistant to President Biden for Gender Policy!  The Gender Policy Council has been focusing on mental health for women and girls and I had the chance to talk about my platform of Kids and Anxiety with her. 

Here is a summary of my questions for her and what we talked about!

How important is the issue of Kids and Anxiety to President Biden?

The issue of childhood mental health is incredibly important to both the President and Vice President.  The pandemic has had an especially large impact on kids’ mental health and the Biden Administration has made it a priority across a number of different councils including the Domestic Policy Council and Health and Human Services. 

It's also especially important to President Biden we listen to what kids themselves have to say about mental health! We can’t just talk to grownups about how kids are feeling – we need to ask kids themselves. 

What work has the Gender Policy Council been doing to help kids with anxiety?

We know that women and girls experience anxiety and depression in some really specific ways and we want to make sure that we understand the ways gender impacts mental health.  Vice President Kamala Harris is especially focused on how girls experience mental healthy through things like online harassment for example.  Also, women, girls, people of color and immigrant families may perceive and experience mental health struggles differently and we need to work to understand those differences so we can help everyone.

Do you think the issue of kids and anxiety is something both parties can work together on?

Kids mental health is ABSOLUTELY something that both parties can work together on!  It’s one of the small number of things that everyone agrees on because anyone can struggle with things like anxiety no matter where in the country you are!

*****

Before we talked I had a chance to walk around the White House Executive Office Building and I noticed some really cool things!

First of all, did you know that the White House has a cafeteria?  It does and they serve a lot of the same things we have in our school cafeteria (like hamburgers and chicken fingers).  

One of the coolest parts of my day was getting to eat in the White House cafeteria!  I also saw that the White House has a “calm down room” – just like the classroom calm down spaces that I campaigned for as part of my Kid Governor platform! I guess even grown ups in the White House get anxious and need a quite space to calm down.  

Finally, I saw that the White House has a bunch of libraries.  I got to visit two of them and the White House librarian even gave me an honorary library card!  

It was such a cool day visiting the White House and getting to see how important the issue of Kids and Anxiety is to the Biden Administration!

Thank you for reading, and please email me at Cabinet@CT.KidGovernor.org if you're making a difference on the issue of Kids and Anxiety in your community!

Madelyn Sweet 

2022 Kid Governor Cabinet 

Dr. Thomas S. O’Connell School

East Hartford