OATH OF OFFICE
‘Governor for a Day,’ 11, takes right to job E.P. fifth-grader spends busy day with Raimondo
EAST PROVIDENCE — It certainly was a day Mianna Gonsalves, a fifthgrader at the Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School, will long remember, but it also showed her how much work is involved in serving as Rhode Island’s governor, even for just a day.
Mianna was sworn in to her honorary role Friday morning at the Statehouse, and then spent the rest of the day with Gov. Gina M. Raimondo making visits around the state and holding meetings in her Statehouse office. There was even a symposium held in the afternoon, titled “Women in Government.” during which Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, R.I. Housing Director Barbara Fields, Health Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Hittner and Health & Human Services Secretary Anya Rader Wallack talked about their leadership roles in government.
Later, during a meeting in the governor’s office, Mianna deemed her experiences through the day to be “very fun,” but listed the best highlight of all to be having lunch with Raimondo.
“I had a turkey sandwich with American cheese and potato chips,” the student, who lists cheese as among her favorite foods, said in Raimondo’s office.
Mianna has an interest in maybe becoming a chef someday, and part of the governor’s schedule included a visit to Johnson & Wales University’s culinary school in Providence, where she participated in a healthy cooking demonstration while making a stir-fry meal and learning about healthy recipes.
The duo also took a ride down to Westerly in Raimondo’s state SUV, with the gubernatorial entourage in tow, to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Westerly Education Center at 23 Friendship St. Mianna, joined on the trip by her mom, Monique, had never been to Westerly
before.
The day as governor also gave Mianna some insight into the workings of government as she sat in on several meetings Raimondo held with mayors from around the state during the morning, and also visited state Treasurer Seth Magaziner’s office and met members of the state judiciary.
The visiting mayors were Scott Avedisian of Warwick, Jorge Elorza of Providence, William Murray of Cumberland, and Donald Grebien of Pawtucket.
Mianna said students at her school were supportive of her big day at the Statehouse. “They went, ‘Oh my God, it’s so cool, I wish I could do that,’” she said. Even some of the boys at her school said they wished they could have tried out the job, she noted.
“But it’s only for girls,” she said of the essay competition Raimondo has been sponsoring to encourage girls to set high goals for their success in life.
Mianna said her best friend at school sent her along with well wishes. “She told me good luck tomorrow, I am going to miss you,” the student said.
After participating in just a day of the governor’s schedule, Mianna said she really wouldn’t want to do that job every day.
But she also learned some advice from Raimondo on how to handle a busy workload.
“She said make sure you are prepared for all the stuff that is about to come,” the student said. “Because first we had a meeting with this guy, then whoop, we had a meeting with that guy, and whoop, we have another meeting with that guy,” Mianna said. “Then we had to do this, go over there, ah, it was a lot of work,” she said.
Mianna said she also learned from her experiences that you should always do well in school and if you “get good grades, you will go to a good college.”
Raimondo agreed. “That is true, do your best in school and work hard and be the best you can in school. Get the best education you can, that is my advice. Get the best education you can, and do whatever you to do,” she said.
Raimondo said as part of her job, she gets to spend a lot of time in school with students. “I like kids,” she said. “They are our only hope.”
Raimondo said she holds the competition to help girls understand that “if they work hard they can be whatever they want to be, to aim high.”
As for her governor for the day this year, Raimondo said Mianna had “a lot of initiative,” and even showed leadership potential during the day.
“She was in a staff meeting with us earlier, and one of my staff walked in late and she said, ‘You’re late,’ and that was good. I think she will be a good boss, a good leader,” Raimondo said.
Mianna said she liked the activities she participated in during the day, and was taking home a memento of the ribbon cutting in Westerly along with her official Governor for a Day documents from Raimondo.
“I have some of the ribbon in my pocket,” she said.
As the gubernatorial duo finished up the day’s activities, Raimondo looked at Mianna and said, “You will remember this for a long time, won’t you?”
Mianna said “yes” while acknowledging that she would.