Kid Governor Summer Blog Entry

Hi All!

I hope that you are having a great summer!  I hope that you are all feeling refreshed and excited to head back to school again soon, however that may look for you!  I have been busy relaxing and having fun with family and friends, including some great baseball camps!  I have also been super busy with lots of Kid Governor stuff! 

At the end of May, I was teamed up with Chief Justice John Broderick as presenters at the Magnify Voices Expressive Arts Contest Award Ceremony at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry.  We were also two of the judges for the middle school entries.  The kids that entered the contest did some amazing work!  There was a huge range of entries from essays, poems, songs, drawings, paintings and more!

June was a super busy month as Kid Governor!  We had the opportunity to get together with the entire Kid Governor organization!  My Executive Council and I got to meet and share ideas with all of the Kid Governors and their councils at our Leadership Summit on June 12.  We discussed each of our platforms and how to support and promote each of our goals! 

I’ve been asked to be a guest speaker for lots of mental health organizations and groups that work with and for kids!  On June 16, I spoke at the New Hampshire Association of School Principals annual meeting.  It was a great opportunity to remind our school leaders to make mental health a top priority!  I am also going to be speaking at a superintendent and district leader meeting at the Grappone Center in September.

One of my favorite opportunities was speaking to a group from Plymouth State University at the Governor’s Residence in Concord!  I was invited by New Hampshire’s First Lady, Valerie Sununu, to share my experience with childhood mental health at a meeting about the Choose Love program.  It was very exciting to be a part of something so important!  My family and I even took a tour of the Residence and learned about its history with Mrs. Sununu!

Another huge honor was having The National Alliance for Mental Health ask me to be the “kid keynote speaker” for their annual international convention, called NAMICon!  We worked throughout the month of June and the beginning of July with a film crew to create a piece to be aired on July 27th.  The conference was remote this year due to Covid.  It was super cool to be a part of such an amazing event! 

September is shaping up to be another busy month!  The Reach1Teach1Love1 Organization is planning to feature me and my platform on their website for the month of September!  We just met this morning to share ideas and make plans!  Keep an eye out for that!

My school is planning to return full time, in person, in a few weeks!  I’m looking forward to seeing all of my friends and teachers!  I hope that everyone has a smooth transition back to school, whether it is in person or remote!  

And always remember, You Don’t Have to Do This Alone!   

Charlie