The New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) and NH Civics are excited to announce the 2022 New Hampshire's Kid Governor® (NHKG) is fifth grader Charlotte Cotti of Pollard Elementary School in Plaistow, N.H. An official inauguration ceremony was held on Mon., Jan. 10 in Representatives Hall at the New Hampshire State House in Concord, N.H. All three branches of government were represented, with Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald administering the oath of office to Charlotte. The ceremony was recorded by TRSD.TV Timberlane District, Plaistow and can be viewed in its entirety on the Timberlane District Vimeo site.
Cotti will serve a one-year term, succeeding New Hampshire’s Kid Governor 2021, Charlie Olsen. As New Hampshire’s third Kid Governor, Olsen worked hard to end the stigma around childhood depression by speaking at several event and touring with the Choose Love Movement to spread awareness about his platform.
Cotti’s platform centers around helping New Hampshire’s homeless, and she has several ideas going into her term as 2022’s Kid Governor including food, clothing, and toy drives, as well as continuing to learn about people’s experiences with homelessness. In her campaign video, Cotti urges kids like her to lend a hand and help the homeless population in New Hampshire. “If we can change poverty and homelessness, we can change lives,” she said in her campaign video.
Over 1,500 New Hampshire fifth graders participated in the November 2021 election, representing all 10 counties - a number that has continued to increase since the program was introduced in the state in 2018. This year, fourteen schools nominated candidates, and the program’s advisory board narrowed that number down to seven finalists for the fifth graders to vote on.
The six other finalists for 2022 NH Kid Governor and their platforms included: Eva Ashworth, Canterbury Elementary, Canterbury, (environmentalism); Franz Haase, James Faulkner Elementary, Stoddard (kids in poverty); Tynan Jewett, Beaver Meadow Elementary, Concord (poverty); Jaycen Mills, Bicentennial Elementary, Nashua (cyberbullying); Connor Nixon, Sutton Central School, Sutton (tree protection); and Evelyn Read, Maple Street School, Hopkinton (pollution). These fifth grade students will serve as the 2022 NH Kid Executive Council members.
Past NH Kid Governors include: 2020 New Hampshire’s Kid Governor® Suzy Brand, Sant Bani School, Sanbornton (children’s health and time outdoors) and 2019 New Hampshire’s Kid Governor® Lola Giannelli, Sunset Heights Elementary School, Nashua (helping animals).
“We are pleased to be partnering with NH Civics in the statewide effort to expand civics and to provide this opportunity for New Hampshire’s fifth graders. We are particularly grateful to the many teachers and students for their participation, and to Governor Chris Sununu and Frist Lady Valerie Sununu for their enthusiastic support,” stated NHIOP’s Executive Director Neil Levesque.
New Hampshire’s Kid Governor® (NHKG®) is led by NH Civics and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and is a state affiliate of Kid Governor®, an award-winning civics program created by the Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) in 2015. The program expanded to Oregon in 2017, and New Hampshire became the third state affiliate the following year.
The free, in-class program teaches fifth graders about state government, elections, and the importance of civics engagement through a real-life election that’s timed to coincide with election day in November. NHKG inspires students to be lifelong agents of change, active participants in our government, and registered voters when they turn 18.
For more information on New Hampshire’s Kid Governor®, visit NH.KidGovernor.org. Free toolkits, resources, and lesson plans are specifically tailored to each state’s government and Constitution and are available to all fifth-grade classrooms.
Photos courtesy of Office of New Hampshire Governor and Saint Anselm student Kayla Panagrosso.