Governor for a day, we all get puppies!
Kids’ contest essays shed light on what plans are in store
If 11-year-old Cumberland student Isabelle Beitler were governor of Rhode Island for a day, she would “change that terrible law restricting lonely little families from being blessed with as many chickens as they wish.”
Why? Because chickens make an innocent family's life a lot brighter, they have the cutest personalities and they can truly change lives, she says.
“They also make some pretty yummy eggs,” she added. “If you still aren't convinced, just think about how lonely your bacon would be without a fresh chicken egg.”
Oh, and if she were governor for a day, she would also give everyone a puppy, or as she says, “their own little canine sweetheart.”
Isabelle was one of hundreds of girls in grades 5-8 to submit an essay for Gov. Gina Raimondo's 2017 Governor for a Day contest. Raimondo announced the winner earlier this month: Mianna Gonsalves, an 11-year-old at Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School in East Providence.
While Isabelle tackled the issue of Rhode Islanders not having enough animals in their lives, Olivia Vincent addressed the “adultlike topic” of guns and drugs. Others focused on issues like inequities in educational opportunities, bullying and funding for the arts.
If Mianna were governor for a day, she would create a statewide student council so that students in grades 3-8 could have virtual meetings for kids from different schools to discuss school issues they'd like to work together to change.
“It really bothers me when I hear
that other fifth graders who live in different cities and towns in Rhode Island receive different opportunities than I do,” she wrote. On the other hand, she would like to expand her school's exercise and movement initiative statewide.
Mianna added, “Students should not have to wait until middle or high school to lead, they should get to start in elementary school.”
She will be sworn in as Governor for a Day on April 28.
One of the finalists was Sanjana Maddipudi, a Lincoln Central Elementary School fifth-grader who focused on bullying awareness and prevention.
Sydney J. Lees, also a Lincoln Central fifth-grader, would issue an executive order requiring the Rhode Island Department of Education to mandate that all students complete ethics curriculum before graduating from high school.
“I believe it is important for students to learn how to be polite, be honest, do good deeds, help others, have respect for yourself and others, not discriminate against others, and prevent bullying which is such a big problem
around the country,” she wrote.
She feels this will help students in their personal and public lives, and that if they don't learn about these issues early enough, problems could get worse.
Sydney did her research, citing the Youth Ethics Series Curriculum developed in Colorado in 2011. As part of the curriculum, she would have students “volunteer their time in a way that helps other.”
In her essay, Lincoln School student and Pawtucket resident Olivia Vincent voiced her opinion that only police officers, Army soldiers and FBI agents should be able to carry guns. The 11-year-old also said she would try to help people with drug addiction by sending them to rehabilitation centers.
Her other projects would be to fund music, art, theater and science programs, and to donate to organizations that help the homeless.
“My goal for our community is to be safer, more trusting, and a place where people of all ages can receive a better education,” she wrote. “The first step to helping our community become a better place is by helping every neighbor and friend, no matter who they may be.”