The Secretary of State Initiates
New Civics Program in
Elementary Schools
Click on above picture to watch video announcement to 5th graders.
Recently, Senate President Peter Courtney and I were discussing the
office of Secretary of State, and he said that if he were Secretary of State, he
would emphasize educating our youth. I agree.
Today, I am happy to introduce “Oregon Kid Governor," the Secretary
of State and Oregon Archive’s joint initiative promoting civics education to 5th
grade students.
I am convinced that students
learn best when involved in the lesson and will learn more about how government works by participating in a campaign and
electing their own Kid Governor than by listening to lectures from grown-ups or
reading a book.
 School is back in session, and Oregon 5th grade elementary school classes across the state are invited to join the Oregon Kid Governor program. Interested 5th graders will give a 2-3 minute speech making three points: (1.) why they want to be Kid Governor; (2.) what issue they would focus on if elected, and (3.) what three action items they suggest to enlist other 5th graders to help on the candidate’s issue.
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Each participating school can nominate one 5th grader as its nominee to become a candidate for Kid Governor. A panel of experts will view all videos and select seven final candidates. The seven videos will be placed on the Secretary of State website, and students in participating 5th grade classes will vote during the week of November’s election. Thus, the Oregon Kid Governor will be elected by 5th graders across the state.
The Oregon Kid Governor will be inaugurated on January 9, 2018 here in the Capitol, and the newly-elected Kid Governor will give an inauguration speech that will be live-streamed to 5th grade classrooms across the state. A press conference will be held and the Kid Governor will present her or his key issue and explain why that issue is so important. The Kid Governor will also meet and discuss their issue with Oregon Governor Kate Brown and state legislators. Our team in the Secretary of State’s office will assist in all aspects of the Kid Governor’s one-year term of office and ensure only a minimum amount of class time is missed by the Kid Governor.
Based on time availability, we will help the Kid Governor record short videos on civics/government issues, thus enabling those civic lessons to be taught peer-to-peer.
If you would like to see 5th graders in your community learn more about state government by participating in the Oregon Kid Governor program, call or write your local school district educators and administrators.
Dennis Richardson
P.S. For more detailed information on the Oregon Kid Governor program, go to the Oregon Secretary of State website: http://sos.oregon.gov
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