{"id":77465,"date":"2025-05-07T14:50:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/?p=77465"},"modified":"2025-06-05T14:45:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T18:45:03","slug":"kid-governor-civic-education-program-expands-to-nebraska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/2025\/05\/07\/kid-governor-civic-education-program-expands-to-nebraska\/","title":{"rendered":"Kid Governor\u00ae Civic Education Program Expands to Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hartford, Conn<\/strong> \u2013Kid Governor\u00ae<\/sup>, The Connecticut Democracy Center\u2019s (CTDC) national award-winning civic education program, has welcomed Nebraska to its roster of affiliate states. CTDC is partnering with Civic Nebraska to launch Nebraska\u2019s Kid Governor\u00ae. This free program will teach fifth-grade students about state government, voting, and the importance of civic engagement through an authentic election for their state\u2019s Kid Governor. The program will debut during the 2025-26 school year, with its first election in November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to be partnering with Civic Nebraska to bring the Kid Governor program to Nebraska\u2019s fifth-grade classrooms,\u201d said Brian Cofrancesco, CTDC\u2019s Director of Kid Governor\u00ae. \u201cKid Governor gives young people an opportunity to get involved in civics at an early age\u2014and it\u2019s our goal to empower them to remain engaged in our democracy and within their communities for the rest of their lives. We welcome our newest affiliate program and look forward to Nebraska\u2019s fifth graders electing their state\u2019s first Kid Governor this fall!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCivic Nebraska believes in the power of youth to lead right now, not just someday,\u201d said Nancy Petitto, Civic Nebraska\u2019s executive director. \u201cThis program doesn\u2019t just teach leadership; it gives young people the real responsibility, visibility, and tools to lead. It\u2019s an unforgettable lesson in civic power and possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CTDC and Civic Nebraska serve as their states\u2019 affiliates of the national CivxNow Coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civic Nebraska, whose mission is to build a more modern and robust democracy for all Nebraskans, will lead this unique civic education program for Nebraska\u2019s fifth graders. Schools or individual fifth-grade classes can register to vote in November\u2019s statewide election, and each participating school can nominate one student for the election to determine Nebraska\u2019s 2026 Kid Governor. Each student who runs for Kid Governor must identify an important community issue and develop a three-point platform with ways that fifth-graders can address that issue. School nominees will create campaign videos outlining their platforms and persuading fellow fifth-grade voters to elect them as Kid Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven final candidates will advance to a statewide election coinciding with Election Day in November. Fifth graders will watch and analyze the candidates\u2019 campaign videos in class before casting a vote for the student they want to represent them as the voice of the Nebraska\u2019s fifth graders. The student with the most votes will become Kid Governor, and the six finalists will serve as the Kid Governor’s Cabinet. The team of student leaders will serve a one-year term, working with Civic Nebraska to advance their platforms and inspire their constituents to make a difference in their local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nebraska joins Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Oregon in this national movement to engage students in authentic civic learning, with interest growing in other states. Since the program\u2019s inception in 2015, more than 100,000 fifth graders have voted to elect their state\u2019s Kid Governor. Organizations wanting to learn more about bringing Kid Governor\u00ae to their state through CTDC\u2019s affiliate program can visit kidgovernor.org<\/a> or email Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-000-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) provides people of all ages with a lifetime pathway to active citizenship and the tools to take civic action in their communities. With a broad range of initiatives, including The Connecticut Network (CT-N), Connecticut’s Old State House, Connecticut History Day, Kid Governor\u00ae<\/sup>, The Connecticut Democracy Center Debate Tournament, and We The People: The Citizen and The Constitution, CTDC envisions a society where everyone is empowered to participate in our democracy. Learn more by visiting<\/em> <\/em><\/a>ctde<\/em>mocracycenter<\/em>.org<\/em><\/a> <\/u><\/em>and engaging with CTDC on<\/em> <\/em><\/a>Facebook<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> <\/em><\/a>Twitter<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> <\/em><\/a>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> <\/em><\/a>YouTube<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> <\/em><\/a>Instagram<\/em><\/a>, and <\/em>Bluesky<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: Barbara Dell, Marketing Manager
(860) 246-1553 ext. 116
barbara.dell@ctdemocracycenter.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hartford, Conn \u2013Kid Governor\u00ae, The Connecticut Democracy Center\u2019s (CTDC) national award-winning civic education program, has welcomed Nebraska to its roster of affiliate states. CTDC is partnering with Civic Nebraska to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kid-governor"],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Connecticut's Old State House","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77467,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77465\/revisions\/77467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cga.ct.gov\/osh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}