The Connecticut Kid Governor program is an exciting opportunity for McAlister fifth-grade students to learn about leadership, civic engagement, and the electoral process. Through this initiative, students not only get to elect a “Kid Governor” for our state, but they also gain a real life understanding of democracy.
The process began at the start of the school year, where students were given the chance to participate in electing a representative for the Kid Governor program as the culmination of their learning. First, students research issues they care about in their community, school, even statewide or global concerns. Based on their research, students developed a platform—a set of priorities or goals they desired to address, if elected. This helped students create a plan for their campaign and gave their peers an idea of what they stood for.
Once a candidate selects a platform, the students then write a speech that clearly communicates their ideas. The expectation is that the speech is both informative and persuasive, demonstrating to classmates why the candidate’s platform is important and how they plan to make a difference if elected.
Candidates first presented their speeches to their own classmates. This was an important step in building public speaking skills and refining their messages. It also provided an opportunity for peers to ask questions and learn more about each candidate’s platform. After the presentations, students voted for the class representative who advanced to the next stage—the election of a school-wide representative. Our seven classroom representatives then presented their speech to the entire fifth-grade class. This step can be nerve-wracking, but our students did an amazing job with public speaking and gaining wider support from all students in the grade. After hearing all the candidates, our fifth-grade students voted for their school’s Kid Governor representative. This candidate then represented McAlister and the town of Suffield in the broader Connecticut Kid Governor program.
Through this program, Connecticut students gain more than just political knowledge—they also learn valuable lessons in leadership, communication, and community engagement. The Kid Governor program offers them a real-world experience in democracy, preparing them to be active, informed citizens in the future.
The seven finalists from each of the 5th grade homerooms are listed below as well as the platform they ran their campaign on.
Of these seven finalists, McAlister Grade 5 students then voted for their very own Kid Governor. The Kid Governor that was selected by his peers is Justin Zdroykowski. Justin ran on the platform of Students with Speech and Language Disorders. Justin’s video was entered into the state competition. Unfortunately, Justin did not move forward in the statewide competition, but we are incredibly proud of him and his accomplishments.
Our students were presented to the Board of Education on Monday, November 4th where Board members had the opportunity to view Justin’s submission to the state competition.
A photo from the evening is below. We look forward to continuing to develop this program and perhaps one day, be entered in the statewide competition and have a Suffield student represent the state of Connecticut as a Kid Governor. Congratulations to all our students and a big thank you to our teachers for taking this program on.
Board of Education Members recognize our Kid Governor finalists. (l-r) Israel Nti, Maddie Charette, Skylar Mol, Maeve Baker, James Gamache, and Justin Zdroykowski (not pictured Michael Tartsinis)
