Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Today is December Kindness Day!

Hi everybody!! Can you believe it's already December? This year has flown by!!

So this month I have a challenge for you!! Write down all of the kind acts that you do for the month of December! If you email me at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org you will get a shout-out in next months blog post!! Can we get ten shout-outs next month??!!!

Ok, on to the ten December Kindness Day suggestions!!
  1. Go to Toys R US and donate a toy to Toys for Tots!! 
  2. Adopt a family for the holidays!! 
  3. Bring your bus driver baked goods! (they always love them) 
  4. Take a minute and write a note telling someone why you're thankful for them!! 
  5. Make all your classmates holiday cards!! 
  6. Tell people how much you appreciate them!! 
  7. Donate hats, gloves, personal hygiene products, toys etc. to your local homeless shelter!! 
  8. Help raise awareness for the next CKG Jessica Brocksom's campaign!! (learn more HERE)
  9. Ask your teacher if they need any help!! 
  10. Do a surprise cleanup for your parents!! 
I want to give a shout out to all of the kids who made a marvelous attempt at being the 2017 Connecticut's Kid Governor by running in the Statewide Election! You can watch their videos HERE

Congratulations to the next Connecticut's Kid Governor, Jessica Brocksom! I got to meet Jessica at Connecticut's Old State House last week. You can learn about Jessica at CT.KidGovernor.org!


Jessica and me at the Old State House! 

Also, shout-outs to Abby Salmini, Mrs. Kiely,and Mr. Bosso!! Thanks for your emails this past month!

Talk to you guys next year😉!!

- Elena 

Friday, November 18, 2016

"Convivencia": the art of living together!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hello to all of our Kindness is Kool readers out there!  Elena, along with all of YOU, have been working very hard during the past year to come up with some great ways to show kindness to your friends, classmates, family, and even people you’ve never met!  Congratulations on demonstrating convivencia!  (Say what?!)

If you’ve never heard the word convivencia before, it is: “the art of living together”.  And you’ve been practicing the art of living together every time you act with kindness.

Most of the time we think of “art” as the drawings we create for fun in our free-time, or the paintings and sculptures we see in a museum.  But if you look up the word “art” in the dictionary, this is what it says: “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings”.

Isn’t that what “kindness” is, after all?  If you’ve been helping Elena come up with ways to be kind, if you’ve recently treated someone kindly, you’ve used your imagination and skill to create something beautiful (good feelings).  And you’ve expressed important ideas (respect, selflessness, compassion) through your kind actions.  Maybe you’ve seen someone who looks sad -- and you thought about ways to cheer them up.  Maybe you’ve seen someone having a bad day -- and you thought of a way to help them out.  Maybe your kind action was the only good thing that happened to that person that day!  And it showed them that someone noticed them and cared about them enough to make them feel important.

We can use our imaginations to create something beautiful and express important ideas every day.  And the great thing about convivencia is that when you show others how it works, they learn that skill from you.  You become a model for “the art of living together” and your acts of kindness get paid forward over and over again as more people start doing what they see you do!

Students in the Colombian Andes learning convivencia at school! (Steve Drummond/NPR)

Convivencia helps make it easier for us to get things done when we work in groups, whether it’s working on a class project, cleaning up after ourselves at home or playing a team sport.  Doing our fair share of a class project shows that we care about the others in our group by pulling our own weight and not leaving all the work for everyone else to do.  At home, it makes it a lot easier on the rest of our household if we clean up the kitchen once we’ve had our after-school snack or hang up our towel in the bathroom instead of leaving it on the floor for someone else to pick up.  And team sports are called “team” sports because each player’s job is to help his or her teammates win the game, and often that means kindly sharing the ball to allow fellow players a chance to score!

"The art of living together” is such an important idea in learning that it is now used in some schools as a way to educate students throughout their school day.  This way of learning, convivencia, started in Escuela Nueva in Columbia, South America.  You can learn all about it in the NPR podcast HERE and below.  But if you have been thinking of ways to be kind and are practicing kindness each and every day, you are already becoming skilled in the “art of living together” and are ready to show others how convivencia works!    


Saturday, November 12, 2016

November Kindness Day and my last post as Connecticut's first Kid Governor!

Hi friends! This is my last blog post in my term as Connecticut's first Kid Governor, which ends in a few weeks when the next CKG is elected!! I am excited to say though that I will be continuing this blog and Kindness Day after the end of my term! Enter your email address at the top right of this page where it says "Follow Elena and her Campaign for Kindness" to make sure you receive updates from this blog!


First, since November Kindness Day is just around the corner, I have ten kindness suggestions for November 13:
  1. Celebrate the top seven candidates for this year's Connecticut's Kid Governor election
  2. If your friend is struggling with their work, give them a helping hand 
  3. See if any of your teachers need help with their classroom 
  4. Make ten cards with your friends and give them to one specific teacher!! 
  5. If a friend forgot something help them get it done 
  6. Give your parents a book of coupons like "one free chore" or "one nap" 
  7. Go through your toys and give the ones you don't use to a child who needs them 
  8. Bring a fun treat to your teachers 
  9. Give your family a big hug and say "thank you for all you do"
  10. Celebrate your friends and your kindness!!
I have gotten to do so many amazing things this year as Connecticut's Kid Governor!! I had an amazing time and was able to meet so many diverse people. I got to go to opening session at the State Capital!! I went to several events in my town, East Hartford!! I went to several libraries through my Summer Library Circuit and got to meet so many amazing kids all across Connecticut!! I also went to the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony just last week where I got to speak and meet a whole bunch of amazing people!!

Me with Governor Malloy at the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame Induction last week!

This year as CKG I learned that it's important to be involved in government!! I learned that learning what is going on in your community is very important because children are the future and if we have no idea what's going on we will be in big trouble!!!

Most importantly, I hit all three of my campaign goals!! 
  • First, I got people all across the state of Connecticut to celebrate the 13th of the month as Kindness Day and hear all the remarkable acts of kindness they did!! 
  • Second, schools and organizations across Connecticut installed Buddy Benches on their playgrounds! We are now up to 15 Buddy Benches installed thanks to the East Hartford Rotary Club (they bought 11 Buddy Benches!!), Pleasant Valley Elementary School in South Windsor, Reynolds School in Newington, and most recently the McKinley Elementary School PTA in Fairfield! (photos below) Thanks to State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey who told McKinley Elementary School about my goal of installing Buddy Benches!
  • And third, by creating an email address I got to hear what the amazing kids (and adults!) across Connecticut wanted to do to be kind!! I also met many kids when I went and spoke to them!

Photos of the new Buddy Bench at McKinley Elementary School, painted by 5th graders!


Well that is it for my last post as CKG. Be sure to subscribe to this blog and continue to follow my campaign for kindness here and at CT.KidGovernor.org! Thanks for a great year and remember to be kind and always celebrate it!!

- Elena 

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Statewide Election for the 2016-2017 Connecticut's Kid Governor™ Begins Next Week!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...


We are pleased to announce the following candidates for the 2016 Connecticut's Kid Governor™ Statewide Election! The candidates and their selected platforms are:
Avery: Homelessness
Chelsey: Kindness
Georgia: Bus Safety
Jessica: Animal Cruelty 
Madelyn: Senior Pet Adoption
Nathan: Bullying Prevention
Nicolas: Recycling

Each candidate has completed a campaign video outlining why he/she wants to be Connecticut's Kid Governor, what leadership qualities he/she has, what community issue is important to him/her and why, and a three-point plan outlining ways for Connecticut 5th graders to make a difference around that issue.

The candidates' videos are now available HERE.

All 5th grade classes must pre-register in order to vote in the Connecticut's Kid Governor Statewide Election. Registration will close on Friday, November 4, 2016. For more information, please email Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Upcoming Kindness Days and Kindness Activities!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

We’re always on the lookout for more cool kindness ideas! Here are a few of the awesome projects that kids and communities are participating in right now, as well as a few kindness-related dates coming up soon. Take a look at some of the great ways to get involved!

In January 2017, a group associated with Kids for Peace is coordinating The Great Kindness Challenge-School Edition, where schools can sign up online and pledge to be kind for one whole week. Schools can download a challenge list to follow, or come up with their own kindness activities.

Finding ways to be kind is made even easier if you follow the suggestions at any of these websites, some of them for individuals, and some designed to be done in a group like a classroom setting.

RandomActsOfKindness.org teaches you how to be a RAKtavist (Random Act of Kindness doer) with activities like hiding fun-filled Easter eggs in a park for someone to find, or leaving a thank you post-it on a cafeteria tray for the person who has to wash them. There are also lesson plans here for teachers to use (free!), and even research showing how kindness actually makes our brains and bodies better. (Fun Fact: a Swedish study in 2013 found that human heart beats synchronize with each other when we sing together! Kindness activity? Start singing with your friends!)

KindSpring divides its kindness activities into categories like animals, the elderly, and teens, and lets you click a tab to say “I’ve done this.” They also have printable “smile cards” – allowing you to do an anonymous kind act and encourage the next person to pass on the kindness!
 

Download your smile cards here!  They're available in 16 languages. 

Former educator and human services professional Barb Shelly created a website called KidActivities, which features pages of kindness activities and craft ideas specifically for school-age kids and classrooms, including making a kindness paper chain, a wall of love craft, and how to hold a crayon drive for sick kids!

Kindness is important every day, but there are some special dates when people all over the world do something nice for some other person:
  • World Kindness Day is coming up on November 13
  • Random Act of Kindness Day is February 17
  • International Kindness day is July 27
And international Pay It Forward Day is April 28, 2017. This one is special. The goal is to inspire 10 million acts of kindness around the world, and they are being tracked on the website. A bunch of schools, communities, and states from the US have signed up – maybe your school could be next!

Every single kind thing we do for another person helps to make the world a better place. So go find your next kind act through one of these websites, start your own kindness campaign in your school or community, or just smile at the next stranger you see. No act of kindness is too small!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Cities and Towns Celebrate Kindness

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Connecticut’s Kid Governor Elena has shared many great suggestions for kind acts that anyone can do on their own. But wouldn’t it be great if groups of people got together to explore the idea of kindness and see what they could do to make the world better?

That is the idea behind several different “Day of Kindness” gatherings that have taken place in the past year, all across the United States.

In October of 2015, the city of Philadelphia, PA (nicknamed the “City of Brotherly Love”) hosted the Philadelphia Day of Kindness, the first day of an entire month of kindness activities to celebrate the city’s 333rd birthday. The month of kindness included celebrations all across the city, with different kindness activities at each site. They included a musical celebration featuring Tibetan music in honor of the Dalai Lama, and Kindness in the Wind – a flag-making activity and art installation of flags made by people from all over saying and showing how we could be kind to one another.

Kindness flags fly in Philadelphia! Photo credit: Paul Kurtz

In addition to these celebrations, the people of Philadelphia encouraged each other to be kind in a lot of different ways:
  • They set up a Kindness Exchange, a webpage of different causes and organizations where people could donate their time, skills, or money.
  • They also started an online Wall of Intention, a place where visitors could pledge to do something kind with a simple fill-in-the-blank like this:
    • I intend to be kinder by ________________________
  • Their website even included a place where people could share stories about acts of kindness they had seen or been a part of. Check out the event and activities on their website!
In fact, going online is a good way to learn about other towns and groups who have hosted their own Kindness Days, and several of them offer not only great ideas for how to be kind, but also let you share your own ideas or stories of kindness!

In April 2015, a group in Meridian, Idaho, hosted a “Do the Right” Day of Kindness. The idea? Do something nice for the person to the right of you. See how it works here:


A group in Louisville, KY, has hosted a “Mighty Kindness Hoot” for the past nine years. This past June it featured a whole day of music, classes on being kind to the earth and each other, a community circle to share kindness ideas, and hugs from their mascot “Hootin’ Annie”! Here she is:
Hootin' Annie at Louisville's Mighty Kindness Hoot

Would any of these great kindness ideas work in your community? If so, talk to your parents and local elected officials! They can help you come up with a plan to bring these ideas to action in your town.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

"Sit With Us": Spreading Kindness at Lunch Time

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hello everyone! We hope the new school year is off to a great start for all of our student, teacher, and parent followers!

One of the most exciting parts of a new year – especially if you’re at a new school – is making new friends. And lunch time is a great chance to talk to those friends – you might find out that you have lots of things in common! Do you have a favorite subject in school? Tell a new friend about why you think that subject is cool, and ask them if they have a favorite subject too. You can do the same thing with your favorite sports team, television show, or food! Sharing your interests with others and asking what interests them is a great way to make friends, and can be a great way to show kindness!

For some students, choosing which table to eat at can be stressful. It can be scary to ask to join somebody else’s table, especially if you don’t know anyone sitting there. Natalie Hampton, a student from Sherman Oaks, California, was nervous to join someone’s table for lunch at her new school. Instead, she decided to eat by herself every day. Natalie felt embarrassed and lonely sitting by herself, but she was afraid that the other students would be mean to her if she asked to join their table.

Natalie moved to a new school and quickly made new friends! But she didn’t want other students to have the same experience she did. She wanted to make sure that students at her new school weren’t embarrassed or nervous about asking to join someone’s table, and she didn’t want anyone to have to eat alone.

Natalie decided to create an app for phones to make it easier to find a place to eat. Her app, “Sit With Us,” lets students volunteer to be lunch ambassadors. These ambassadors can set up an “open lunch,” meaning that any student is welcome to sit at their table. Natalie says the best part about the app is that it’s private. Shy or nervous students don’t have to ask someone if they can join their table. All they have to do is check the app and join an ambassador’s table.

A screenshot for Natalie Hampton's Sit With Us app. 

So how can you get involved? You can download the app and spread the word around your school. Or, you can keep an eye out for students who are sitting by themselves and ask if they want to join your table, even if you don’t have the app!

Natalie witnessed a problem at her school and wanted to do something to change it. With her app, Natalie is helping her fellow students. Are there any problems in your school? How can you fix them? Talk to your parents and your teachers – they can help you think of ways to make your school a friendlier, more welcoming place for everyone. That’s a great way to spread kindness!

And, if you’re a 5th grader, consider running for Connecticut’s Kid Governor using the problem you’ve identified as your campaign platform! Visit CT.KidGovernor.org for more information.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Pleasant Valley School in South Windsor installs their Buddy Bench!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hello everyone! By now you have probably heard about Elena’s three-point plan to promote kindness. One of the goals of her platform as Connecticut’s Kid Governor has been to have 10 Buddy Benches installed at local schools. So far, 14 schools have received Buddy Benches as a direct result of Elena’s Campaign for Kindness! The following message comes from Principal Tiffany Caouette from Pleasant Valley Elementary School in South Windsor, whose students were inspired by Elena’s call to action: 

During the 2015-2016 school year, a group of six students from Pleasant Valley attended the Connecticut Association of Schools' (CAS) Student Leadership Conference at Asnuntuck Community College. While there, students heard Connecticut’s Kid Governor, Elena Tipton, speak. Elena had stated that her goal was to have ten buddy benches installed throughout the state. Students were so impressed by her message of kindness that they returned to the school and requested a meeting with Principal Tiffany Caouette that day. They decided immediately to return to the Student Council body and suggest that the fifth grade class gift to the school be a Buddy Bench. At the next Student Council meeting, the six students made their proposal; it was well received by the Student Council and subsequently the entire fifth grade class. 


Top: Elena speaks to her constituents at the CAS Conference.
Bottom: Pleasant Valley Elementary School students use their new Buddy Bench this past September!

Additionally, students heard Elena's message of the 13th of every month being a Kindness Day, and that was instituted at Pleasant Valley for the remainder of the year as well.

Buddy Benches are a great way to bring more kindness to your school! The benches give students a place to sit at recess if they need a buddy to play with, which can lead to new friendships. Are you interested in bringing a Buddy Bench to your school? Check out these cool resources to see how you can make it happen!

Listen to Elena's remarks at the CAS Conference that inspired the 5th graders at Pleasant Valley!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

It's almost time for October Kindness Day!

Hi friends, it's Elena!! Kindness day is coming up on Thursday, October 13th!! This month I have ten more kindness suggestions!!
  1. Compliment a stranger!! 
  2. Introduce yourself to your neighbors 
  3. Say "thank you" a lot!! 
  4. Send your friend a letter 
  5. Tell someone the impact they have made on your life 
  6. Bring a small gift (like chocolate!) to your new teachers 
  7. Recognize the good in others! 
  8. Stand up for your friend who maybe doesn't have a voice!! 
  9. Do a task that nobody else has the courage to do 
  10. Smile at people to make them smile!! 
Those are all of my kindness suggestions this month!! 

Here are some more kindness suggestions from the new friends I met on the Summer Library Circuit!!

This month I have four new shout outs! The first one goes to an extremely kind usher at a concert I went to!! Also Mayor Dan Drew from Middletown for donating one of his kidneys!! 

Here's me with Mayor Dan Drew!! I met him on my Summer Library Circuit!!

Also the Republic Restaurant in Hartford!! They try to give each costumer a compliment!! And last but not least, everyone who is willing to be kind and celebrate other people's kind acts!!!!

Be sure to email me your acts of kindness at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org for a shout-out in my next blog post!

-Elena

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Trinity and her Buddy Bench!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hello everyone! You probably remember our August blog post about some of the awesome schools and organizations who have worked together to bring Buddy Benches to local playgrounds. Putting a Buddy Bench in your school or park’s playground is just one of the really cool things you can do with your friends or classmates to spread kindness! But you don’t need a big group of people to get a Buddy Bench in your town. Our friend Trinity, a six-year-old from Grayling, Michigan, worked with her family and community to bring a Buddy Bench to her school’s playground!
Last year, Trinity’s school had week-long campaign against bullying. Afterwards, she started thinking about ways she could spread kindness to her friends and classmates. The subject of bullying came up again in her karate class, and Trinity decided that bringing a Buddy Bench to her school could be a great way to encourage others to be kind!

Trinity and her mom worked with her teacher and principal to get their support for the Buddy Bench, and then they set out to start fundraising! Trinity’s mom and karate teacher got the word out on Facebook, while Trinity and her grandmother collected soda cans and bottles. Her karate dojo and her grandmother’s co-workers at the local Post Office donated cans as well, and pretty soon she had raised $500 – enough money to have the Buddy Bench built at her school’s playground!



The Buddy Bench wasn’t the only act of kindness Trinity worked on this summer! She also made “Survival Kits” for her local police and fire departments, as well as her teacher. The survival kits included a poem and candy to encourage their recipients to have a great year! A big shout-out to Trinity for her multiple acts of kindness this summer and congratulations on being featured on the Girl Scouts of the United States of America's Facebook page!

What can you do to spread kindness? Maybe you can make survival kits for your teachers, police officers, firefighters, or medical first responders in your town! Or, if you want to get a Buddy bench for your school or park, you can use the resources listed here to get started.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Get involved in national kindness movements!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hi again everyone! Today on Kindness is Kool we want to talk about joining kindness movements!

We all know how big of an impact a single act of kindness can make. No matter how small they may seem, individual acts of kindness can make a huge impact on the people around us! Each of us can make the world a little bit better by being kind every day. That’s one of the best things about kindness: it’s something that everyone can do on their own!

But kindness can also be a team sport! By joining larger kindness movements or partnering with other kind people, we can make an even bigger impact than we could on our own. Best of all, joining a kindness movement doesn’t have to be hard! Have you participated in one of Elena’s Kindness Days? Have you made a Kindness Hand for #HandsOfKindness? Have you worked with a class or group to get a Buddy Bench at your school or in your town? These are all part of CKG Elena’s Campaign for Kindness, which is a kindness movement! Even by just visiting this blog and learning about Elena’s campaign, you’re taking part in a kindness movement!


CKG Elena wearing her Kind Campaign tshirt that says "You Can Sit With Us #KindCampaign"


There are some great kindness movements out there. Take a look at this list of some our favorites, and think about joining one (or more)!

  • Started in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, Ben’s Bells spreads kindness through teamwork and crafts! Volunteers visit a Ben’s Bells studio and work in teams to make wind-chimes with painted beads and flowers. Volunteers give the bells to people in their community who have done something kind for others! Other bells are placed around town with notes to take them and pass the kindness along to more people. But you don’t have to visit Arizona to participate – a Ben’s Bells studio opened in Bethel, CT in 2013! Or you could join Ben’s Bell’s Kind Campus program, and your class will receive cool kindness materials and activities. Best of all, the program is free!
  • Kind Campaign was founded in 2009 by two students at Pepperdine University who wanted to stop girl-on-girl bullying in schools. The campaign has reached thousands of people, encouraging students to be more kind and supportive to one another. You can become involved by signing up to be a Kind Ambassador, going online and writing a Kind Card to someone you know, or by putting together a free Kind Campaign assembly for your school! CKG Elena even recently found a Kind Campaign shirt at Kohl’s! (see photo of Elena above)
  • You can even join a virtual kindness community by joining the Fluent in Kindness movement! By signing up for their email list, liking them on Facebook, or following them on Twitter, you’ll get tips on ways to spread kindness, as well as kindness-based quotes and stories from around the world. You can also share your own acts of kindness to inspire others to do the same!

Will you join one of these kindness movements? Will you inspire others to be kind? Let us know! Email CKGElena@kidgovernor.org to let Elena know what you are doing to be kind to others and you will get a shout-out in her next blog post!



Wednesday, September 21, 2016

My amazing Summer Library Circuit!

Hi everyone, this week I will be telling you a little bit about my Summer Library Circuit!! During August, I visited five libraries across Connecticut to share my campaign for kindness and talking about Buddy Benches! Click on the name of each library below to see more photos from my Circuit!



First I went to the Hartford Public Library and I saw my good friend Gizmo the Therapy Dog!! I also got to meet a bunch of amazing kids and hear what they are doing to be kind!! 


Next I went to the Russell Library in Middletown where I got to meet the Mayor Daniel Drew - that was so cool!! There were also a bunch of kids, adults, and community organizations that came to learn about Buddy Benches and ask me questions. 
Me and Middletown Mayor Drew


Next I went to the New Haven Free Public Library where kids were bubbling to tell me all about what they are doing to be kind!! Some kids even wanted to be the next Connecticut's Kid Governor!! How cool is that??

Next stop: Farmington Public Library!! It was so much fun there - I got to meet a bunch of kids who were really interested in campaign kindness!! We got a bunch of kindness hands!  


Last stop was the Meriden Public Library where I got to meet some kids who really wanted to be Kid Governor and I was so exited to hear that!! I met some amazing kids in Meriden!!



Over all, 172 people came to learn about my campaign for kindness and Buddy Benches between the five libraries!! How amazing!!

That's all for this blog post friends! Remember to share your hand of kindness on social media using #HandsofKindness! Talk to you soon, bye!!


- Elena

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The story of the creation of Connecticut's Kid Governor!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...


This time last year Connecticut’s Kid Governor (CKG) was just an idea brainstormed in a grocery store parking lot. Now, it’s a hugely popular school program that’s gearing up for its second election this fall - all while the current and first Connecticut’s Kid Governor, Elena Tipton, successfully touts her “Campaign for Kindness” throughout the state. During this installment of “Tales from the Old State House,” you will hear the story of how this program came to be and where it’s going from the educator who was both in that parking lot and currently at the helm of CKG, Brian Cofrancesco.

To learn more about Connecticut’s Kid Governor, both the program and the student, visit CT.KidGovernor.org and follow CKG on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. This installment of “Tales from the Old State House” was recorded in July 2016.


Friday, September 9, 2016

It's time to register for Connecticut's Kid Governor 2016-2017!

After a successful pilot year, the Connecticut Public Affairs Network at Connecticut's Old State House is excited to announce the second year of Connecticut's Kid Governor!


This fall, Connecticut 5th graders will participate in a statewide election for Connecticut's next Kid Governor. Through educational toolkits, which contain in-class lessons, and the 2016 election, students will learn about our three branches of state government, the history & process of voting, and the importance of civic engagement...all from the comfort of the classroom!

All 5th grade classes in Connecticut are invited to participate in this program by either nominating a student candidate from their school and voting in the election - or by just voting in the election. Don't miss your chance to participate in this FREE program...the next Connecticut's Kid Governor (CKG) could be YOUR student!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Register your class for CKG 2016 -2017!
Check out our toolkits of in-class lessons
Sign-up for our Tuesday, September 27 workshop or Wednesday, September 28 webinar to learn more about CKG
Review the official Rules & Regulations, Entry Form, and Photography & Media Release for student candidates
 
Connecticut's Kid Governor is aligned with the Connecticut Core Standards & Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks. It provides an innovative way to incorporate civics and taking informed action into your classroom. The program also fulfills standards set in the new Red, White & Blue Schools program launched by the Connecticut Department of Education and the Office of the Secretary of the State.

 For more information about Connecticut's Kid Governor: Visit CT.KidGovernor.org
or contact Head of Education Brian Cofrancesco at Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org.

 

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Get ready for Kindness Day on September 13!

Hi friends, it's Elena here with another blog post!! 

I once again have ten kindness suggestions for this month's Kindness Day on September 13. I will focus on doing acts of kindness at school because I know many of you are back at school!
  1. If you see someone sitting alone, invite them to come sit next to you or go sit with them!!!! 
  2. Make your teacher a card telling them some things about you and how you can't wait to be in their class!! 
  3. Bake your teacher or bus driver or even your class some baked goods! 
  4. Bring a card to your bus driver telling him or her "thank you" for driving you!! 
  5. Donate one of your old books to your classroom!! 
  6. See if your school librarian needs any help shelving books!! 
  7. If someone drops something go pick it up for them!! 
  8. Compliment someone's outfit or hair or shoes!! 
  9. Start a game on the playground and invite everyone to play!! 
  10. Help someone up if they fall!! 
So these are the kindness suggestions for the month!!


Me talking with kids at the New Haven Public Library about my campaign for kindness during my Summer Library Circuit!


Also remember to write down your act of kindness for Kindness Day on a paper hand - or your own hand! - and share it through social media using #HandsofKindness. This will share my campaign for kindness with lots of people!


This month I would like to give a shout out to my grandmothers Fene and Mema!! Good job being kind!! And also shout out to Ms. Joyce Lesich from the Kiwanis of Charlottesville Virginia!! Thank you for that kind email!! 

That's all for this month talk to you next month bye!!!!!!

- Elena

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Start your school year off with kindness!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...

Hey there students and teachers! Welcome back to class for another great year! Elena’s Campaign for Kindness has had an active summer, and we’re very excited to see it continue into this school year. Each new school year brings new experiences: new teachers, new students, and new friendships!

The start of school is the perfect time to think about ways to spread kindness in your classroom, school, community, and beyond. What are some ways that you plan to be kind this year? Whether it’s starting the day with a smile, sitting with someone new at lunch, or filling your classroom with kindness-themed quotes, there’s no act of kindness that’s too big or too small to make a difference!



Need some more ideas? Let’s look at what some of Elena’s constituents – your fellow students and teachers from across the state – are doing to celebrate kindness:
  • Enfield’s middle school and high school students hosted a pancake breakfast to raise money and non-perishable food items for local charities, and they even held a Kindness Carnival to reward the town’s younger students for their acts of kindness!
  • High school students in Enfield also paired up with elementary schools to mentor 2nd graders, giving them great advice on how to do well in school and how to spread kindness.
  • A retired teacher from West Hartford suggests starting each day with a “Circle of Love” – students and teachers all sit together and take turns wishing kindness and good luck to friends, family, or classmates.
  • Chaplin Elementary School starts every day with the following “kindness pledge,” and they encourage other classrooms to use it, too!: 
    • I pledge to myself on this day,
      To try and be kind in every way.
      To every person big and small,
      I will help them if they fall.
      When I love myself and others too,
      That is the best that I can do.
  • Mrs. Finch's classroom at Center School in East Hampton celebrated Kindness Day on the 13th of each month by making a kindness banner for the hallway and collecting items for a local food bank!
  • Pleasant Valley Elementary School in South Windsor and Reynolds School in Newington are both getting Buddy Benches for their playgrounds, and East Hartford Rotary has purchased eleven Buddy Benches for the town’s elementary schools!

Do you have other suggestions on how to spread kindness? Write to Elena at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org to share your ideas! Or, if you end up trying one of the ideas from this post, write to us at Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org and let us know how it turned out for your class!

Welcome back to school! 

Thursday, August 11, 2016

It's time for August Kindness Day!

Hi friends, it's Elena again here with another blog post!!

I once again have ten kindness suggestions for this month's Kindness Day on August 13th!
  1. Do a chore for your family without them knowing!
  2. Let someone go ahead of you in line! 
  3. Donate food to you local food pantry!
  4. Read a book to your younger siblings!  
  5. Make someone else's bed!
  6. Say "thank you" to service worker! 
  7. Volunteer at a soup kitchen! 
  8. Bring some play dough to a preschool class! 
  9. Make a thank you card for your librarian! 
  10. Visit your local retirement home and visit a resident!
So these are the kindness suggestions for the month!! What will you do?? Let me know what you're doing this month by emailing me at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org.

Also, new this month! You can write down your act of kindness for Kindness Day on a paper hand - or your own hand! - and share it through social media using #HandsofKindness. This will share my campaign for kindness with lots of people!

  
#HandsofKindness


This month I would like to give a few shout outs:
  • To the East Hartford Rotary Club for donating eleven Buddy Benches to East Hartford elementary schools!! 
  • To the HOT Schools Summer Institute for letting me speak at their annual conference and spread the word about kindness! 
  • HOT Schools Coaches Donna Fitzgerald, Betty Hadlock and Carol Kennedy for their email and support!
  • Also big shout out to Joyce Lesich from the Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville, VA - thank you for the email and for helping with the Kiwanis 5k run to benefit kids with medical concerns!! 
Talk to you guys soon!!

- Elena

Monday, August 8, 2016

Announcing CKG Elena's Summer Library Circuit - meet Elena at a local library near you!

A message from your friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network...


The Connecticut Public Affairs Network is excited to announce 
Connecticut’s Kid Governor Elena Tipton’s 
2016 Summer Library Circuit 



Meet Governor Elena and learn about her Campaign for Kindness!

Connecticut’s Kid Governor Elena Tipton will visit five libraries across Connecticut as part of her 2016 Summer Library Circuit. Governor Tipton, a recent graduate of Dr. Thomas S. O’Connell Elementary School in East Hartford, will present her Campaign for Kindness platform and discuss how she and other students are working to make Connecticut a kinder state. Elena will also share her vision of installing “Buddy Benches” at 10 Connecticut playgrounds and explain how kids, adults, schools and civic groups can work together to fulfill her goal. The programs are free and open to kids and adults alike, and all attendees will get to participate in a kindness activity! 

Don’t miss your chance to Meet Elena at:
  • Hartford Public Library (Downtown, 500 Main Street) on Tuesday, August 9 at 11:00am in the 3rd floor Children’s Department 
  • Russell Library (123 Broad Street, Middletown) on Monday, August 15 at 1:00pm in the Children’s Activity Room
  • New Haven Free Public Library (Ives Branch, 133 Elm Street) on Monday, August 15 at 4:00pm in the Young Minds and Family Learning Program Room
  • Farmington Public Library (Main Library, 6 Monteith Drive) on Wednesday, August 17 at 1:15pm in the Community Room
  • Meriden Public Library (105 Miller Street) on Wednesday, August 17 at 4:00pm in the Griffin Room
For more information, please contact Brian Cofrancesco at Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org or visit facebook.com/CTKidGovernor.  

This past November, hundreds of 5th graders across the state elected Elena Tipton as the first ever Connecticut’s Kid Governor through a pilot program created by the Connecticut Public Affairs Network (CPAN). Governor Tipton is making several appearances at local libraries as part of her Connecticut’s Kid Governor Summer Library Circuit to share her platform and ways to take action. 
For more information about Governor Tipton’s platform and the Connecticut’s Kid Governor program, please visit CT.KidGovernor.org. 

Friday, August 5, 2016

Bring a "Buddy Bench" to your school or community playground!

Hi everyone, it's Elena here again!! In today's blog post I will be talking all about Buddy Benches and my platform goal of getting 10 schools or communities to bring Buddy Benches to their local playgrounds or parks!! 

So a Buddy Bench is a bench that is out at a school playground or local park and it says "Buddy Bench" on it. When somebody doesn't have anyone to play with they can go sit on that bench and another person goes up to them and says "Hey, why don't you come play with me?" Saying that simple thing gives that person someone to play with and can change their whole day!! Watch my latest video below or HERE to learn more about Buddy Benches!



Now this whole Buddy Bench idea was not my idea - it was started by a superstar kid named Christian Bucks and his principal!! I want to give a huge shout out to him!! Check out his website BuddyBench.org to learn more about him and the story of Buddy Benches!

As I mentioned in the video, there are a few ways you can bring a buddy bench at your school or local playground. You can:
  • Paint a bench that is already there and put the words "Buddy Bench" on it!! 
  • Find a person or group to build a new Buddy Bench!!
  • Buy a custom Buddy Bench online!
There are many ways to raise money for a Buddy Bench! You can have a school fundraiser, contact a community or civic group in your town, or even contact your local Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts about building a bench!! My friends at the Connecticut Public Affairs Network have created a handy Buddy Bench Planning Worksheet available HERE to help you plan your project.


Will you be one of the 10 schools that commits to bringing a Buddy Bench to their community?? I hope you consider it! And if you do please contact me at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org and you will for sure get a shout out in my next blog post - I want to know who's excited to start a Buddy Bench project!

Special shout-outs to Pleasant Valley Elementary School in South Windsor and Reynolds School in Newington who are bringing Buddy Benches to their schools, and the East Hartford Rotary Club who is buying 11 Buddy Benches for our local East Hartford schools!! 

If we work together, we can make Connecticut kinder through Buddy Benches!

For more information about my platform and the Connecticut’s Kid Governor, please visit CT.KidGovernor.org. I will talk to you later – bye!

- Elena

Monday, July 11, 2016

July Kindness Day is Here!

Hey friends it's Elena again - can you believe it's already July?? This year has been going by so fast!

This month, I have 10 new suggested acts of kindness for you to do this Wednesday, July 13th:
  1. Your neighbors might need some help with jobs like mowing the lawn or walking the dog - ask them if they need any help!! 
  2. Setup a lemonade stand and give all the money you raise to a charity. Maybe you can give to Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer!!! 
  3. Make cards for your friends or family but put a twist on it!! Make a card full of things that you love about that person and put it in an envelope - you can do this a bunch of times and hand them out to your friends. 
  4. Go through your toys and give the ones that you really don't use anymore to a younger sibling or a friend's younger sibling!! 
  5. When you take out a library book, write a secret happy letter on a piece of paper and leave it inside the book - when someone takes that book out they will find a happy letter in the book!!
  6. Let someone go in front of you in line!! 
  7. Bake a yummy desert for a neighbor!!
  8. Fill a jar with candy, label it the "Kindness Jar," then give it to a family member or someone in your neighborhood.
  9. If you know someone who is sick, make a "get well soon" card for them. 
  10. If you have some books that you don't read anymore, donate them to your local library!! 
Those are my kindness suggestions for this month!! Which of them will you do? What other acts of kindness do you have in mind?? Be sure to share them with me at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org or post a comment below!

This month I have two shout-outs! One is to this amazing dog I met named Gizmo!! He is super awesome and kind!! 
Me with Gizmo at the Farmers Market at the Old State House in Hartford.
I also met Bessie the Cow at the Farmers Market!


Also shout-out to the Rotary Club of East Hartford for letting me speak about my campaign for kindness at their meeting!!


 
Photos from the East Hartford Rotary Meeting: me with the club's banner; me with President Glass, East Hartford Mayor Leclerc, and East Hartford Superintendent Quesnel; and me speaking to the club about my kindness platform. 

Be sure to email me the kindness acts you do this month at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org so I can give you a shout-out!! Talk to you in my next blogpost!! Be kind!!

- Elena

Monday, June 13, 2016

Happy June Kindness Day!

Hello friends! It's Elena here!! Can you believe it is June? School is out for most people this month!! But since today is Kindness Day here are this month's kindness suggestions!! 
  1. Volunteer during the summer - your local library, baseball league or other organization might need some help!! 
  2. Go through all your books and see which ones you need and do not need, and donate the ones you don't need to you local library!! 
  3. Go through all your toys, sell your unwanted toys at a yard sale, and give all the money to a fundraiser or charity!! 
  4. Get involved in our community by picking up the trash you see outside; make sure you have gloves and a parent or guardian with you!! By picking up trash you are being kind to the environment. 
  5. Send a card to your old teacher!! It always warms their hearts to hear from a previous student!! 
  6. Try to help your parents out as much as possible in the summer - I'm sure they will be in need of help!! 
  7. Send your friend a postcard!! I know it always refreshes my day when I get a handwritten letter in the mail from one of my friends!! 
  8. If you see someone has made a mess, clean it up to help them out; maybe they are having a rough day!! 
  9. Get together a group of friends and make cards for your local police or fire department! 
  10. Try and make ten people smile who seem like they are having a rough day!! 
What other ideas do you have? Share them in the "Comments" section below!!

Hands of Kindness left in my office by visitors to Connecticut's Old State House! 


I have two shout-outs this month!
  1. Thanks to twin sisters Chloe and Allie from Redding who sent me information about Ben's Bells, a group that is also promoting kindness! Check out the Ben's Bells website: https://bensbells.org!
  2. Last week I met Mr. Eric Liu from Seattle at a Town Hall Meeting event at Connecticut's Old State House called "Great Citizenship"! He talked about working together to make our towns and state better. Thank you Mr. Liu for being so interested and supportive of my campaign and governorship! You can watch a recording of the event HERE and listen to what both Mr. Liu and I had to say about kindness! 
Selfie with Mr. Liu at the Old State House Town Hall Meeting!

I hope you like my suggestions!! Please email me at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org and tell me all about which of these you did this month!! Talk to you guys soon bye!!

- Elena