Blog #4
August 7, 2023
Wow!!! These two months have been so exciting, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
To start off summer, I held a food drive at the Plaistow Public Library. This food drive was during the “All Together Now” summer reading program which I kicked off at the Touch A Truck event. For every non-perishable food item you donated you got an extra raffle ticket to use to win any of the many raffle prizes. This was a fun and an extremely successful food drive, and I would like to thank everyone who helped me create this food drive as well as everyone who participated in it. I really couldn’t have done it without you.
On June 17th I participated in the Old Home Day Parade. Even though it was pouring rain in fat droplets, and everyone was getting soaked, people still lined up to watch the parade. Alan Davis of The Plaistow Lions Club drove me as others marched, playing instruments and waving flags. It was still very fun and I got to toss lollipops out of the car to people outside (I still got soaked!). Watching their faces light up even though it was cold and rainy was one of the best things I had ever seen!
During July I was able to take a little break. I was able to go camping for a week with my friend and her family. Between laser tag, hiking, swimming, drinking slushies, and karaoke I had a whole lot of fun. Also during summer break I have enjoyed going to the outdoor concerts at the town hall to listen to the music and hanging out with friends.
I have had a busy as well as a fun summer so far, and I hope you have too!!!
Blog #3
June 5, 2023
Wow! May was such a busy month and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!!!
On Saturday May 6th, I helped the Lions Club “Pitch In to End Hunger” at Plaistow’s baseball season opener. The food we collected went to their Power Packs program.
On May 17th, I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County’s Annual Meeting. This was my longest speech ever! I was very nervous, but everyone assured me that I did great! I had an opportunity beforehand to meet the people at CAPSC and even to help in their food pantry. Kyle gave me a lot of information on poverty and hunger in Strafford County and what CAPCS was doing to help. Betsy helped me feel confident in what I was doing, and she said that I really do make a difference with what I say. Silas in the food pantry helped me understand how the programs worked. He told me about how summer is the hardest time for food insecure families, because children are not receiving school breakfast and lunch. Food pantries are often low in the summer and homelessness is often higher. He showed me how amazing an organization CAPSC is, and how everyone can help.
My executive council members, Sierra and Kaylee, and I organized a successful food drive in New Hampshire schools called “The Spring into Action Food Drive.” Kids created teams and competed for extra recess, a movie and free homework passes! The real winners were the food pantries! This was a very fun event that raised food donations for three different food pantries in NH!
I would love to thank everybody who donated to Team Haydin – Walk Against Hunger. We raised over $2,000! My executive council member Sierra and I had an amazing time chatting about school and the Kid Governor program while on this 2 ½ mile walk. It was a great day for a great cause!
Blog #2
April 17, 2023
I have had such a busy month working to bring my plans into action! I have kicked off my “Spring Into Action Food Drive” in NH schools. This fun food drive is a competition between classrooms! The classrooms that donate the most non-perishable food items win a prize that is decided by the principal of each school and can be anything from an extra recess, to a movie at the end of the school week!
Last week, I spoke with the Plaistow Lions Club to propose that we collaborate to make a video about the Power Pack program. Power packs are weekly backpacks that are sent home to children in need, they include a variety of foods, for example chips, granola bars, and other non-perishable items. We will share the video with other Lions Clubs in NH to bring this program to other communities.
I am also excited to share an exciting opportunity for everyone to participate in! My Executive Council and I are walking to raise money for Families in Transition in their Walk Against Hunger. Your participation in the Walk Against Hunger will help prevent and break the cycle of homelessness through support for families and individuals experiencing hunger or food insecurity.The walk will take place in Manchester, NH on May 21, 2023 at noon.
Here is the link to our team page if you would like to join our team or donate: https://support.fitnh.org/team/496582
Finally, I would like to congratulate my Executive Council member Emily Parent on successfully bringing recycling bins into her school. This was a big goal of hers and she completed it very quickly!!! CONGRATULATIONS EMILY!!!
I hope all the students and teachers have an amazing April Vacation!
Blog #1
March 13, 2023
Hi, my name is Haydin Simmons, and I am New Hampshire’s 2023 Kid Governor. I am a 5th grader from Plaistow, NH. Let me tell you a few things about myself. I am a competitive dancer in tap, jazz and jazz funk, and I also take ballet, lyrical, and hip hop. In school I play percussion in the band, and I also sing in the chorus. I have enjoyed taking acting classes for the past six years and I am looking forward to Drama Club when I get to middle school. I also like to sketch during my free time.
My platform is poverty and hunger, my three-point plan is to:
- Educate people about poverty and hunger so they can help end poverty and hunger.
- Facilitate events to help as many people as possible.
- Encourage people to donate and if they are suffering from poverty and hunger to ask for help.
I have had an exciting first month in office! Let me tell you about what I have done so far.
On Monday, February 6, 2023, I went to my Inauguration. Before walking into the State House I was extremely excited! But when I reached the house chamber, a feeling of nervous tension filled my body. I was extremely nervous when schools, children, families, adults, the Governor, and senators showed up. In fact I was so worried I thought I wouldn’t deliver my speech properly. I realized that everyone was there to support me and luckily I delivered my speech perfectly fine and it was thrilling to have everyone listen to what I had to say. I was extremely impressed by 2022 NH Kid Governor Charlotte Cotti, Governor Sununu, and all the other speeches that were given. It was a thrilling experience! I really enjoyed swearing in my executive council and sharing in their success. This ceremony is one I DEFINITELY won’t forget!
On Friday, February 10, 2023, I attended the NH Hunger Solutions Summit and had the privilege of assisting Dellie Champagne to hand out the service awards to people in NH making a difference in the fight against hunger in our state. I met so many amazing people including NH Senator Jeanne Shaheen and so many others! It made me so happy to see so many people gathered together to help end hunger in our state. I have faith that if we try hard, work as a team, and educate others we can make a positive change in our state, and maybe even in other states too!
This past Saturday, March 11, 2023, my Executive Council and I attended the national Kid Governor Leadership Summit. The first session was for all of the Kid Governors to get together to talk about our platforms and to ask questions. This was a good opportunity to learn how others have executed their projects or talk about any challenges. After the Kid Governors session the Executive Councilors and Cabinet members joined. We broke out in small groups and had a little fun in our groups with an ice breaker activity. We talked about working as teams and how our platforms are similar or different. We came back together and had three very special speakers giving us lots of tips for working as a team and being leaders. We went back to our groups and talked about everything we had learned. It was a great event and I got to meet a lot of kids doing great things for their states.
These are all very special memories I will never forget!