2 East Haven 5th-Graders Sworn In As CT 'Kid Governor' Cabinet Members

EAST HAVEN, CT —In a ceremony at Connecticut's Old State House, two East Haven fifth graders were inaugurated as members of the 2024 Kid Governor cabinet.

With nearly 10,000 fifth graders across the state casting ballots, Grove J. Tuttle Elementary School student Dahna Lara and East Haven Academy student Max Parisi were selected as two of the six cabinet members.

According to Connecticut's Kid Governor website, "The Kid Governor’s Cabinet will be led by 2024 Connecticut’s Kid Governor Cristiano Almeida and includes the six final candidates from the 2023 Statewide Election. The Cabinet will meet monthly to advise Kid Governor Cristiano, discuss how they can support Kid Governor Cristiano’s campaign platform in their own communities, and collaborate with each other as they accomplish their own three-point platforms."

Lara based her campaign on littering, while Parisi focused on internet safety.

Almeida, who is from Southington, based his campaign on encouraging kids to be more physically active. He will serve a one-year term.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, and Attorney General William Tong, as well as Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker and Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Steven Ecker were among the officials at the event.

Kid Governor is a statewide program that began in 2015 through which fifth graders have the opportunity to nominate a student from their school. Created by the Connecticut Democracy Center in collaboration with CTHumanities, the program drew some 9,900 Connecticut fifth graders from 340 classes and 160 schools.

As part of the program, “we talked about community issues that were important to our town and
our state, and had students create a three-step plan for their platform,” said East Haven Academy
fifth grade teacher Dana Palmieri, who piloted the effort with Jenna Pierpont-Greyson, a fifth grade teacher at Tuttle.

The cabinet will meet throughout 2024 to advise the Kid Governor, discuss how they can support
his campaign platform and collaborate as they advance their own three-point platforms.

"We are thrilled to have state representation through Dahna and Max," schools Superintendent Erica Forti said, adding, "And, just as significantly, that our students are getting an immersive civics education through the Kid Governor program."