Thousands of students from across the state competed to be Connecticut’s next kid governor and today the winner for 2022 was announced Wednesday at John F. Kennedy School in Windsor.
Makhi Ettienne-Modeste has been chosen as the state’s next kid governor.
The Connecticut Democracy Center at Connecticut’s Old State House created the program to teach fifth-graders about state government and more than 8,400 students from 134 schools across the state participated in this year’s election.
“I was really happy when they announced it. I was crying, like ‘Oh my God,’ I didn’t know this was going to happen,” Ettienne-Modeste said.
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There were seven finalists and the issues ranged from increasing physical activity in schools to climate change. Ettienne-Modeste’s platform was preventing animal cruelty.
“I saw this very disturbing video and I just did not like it. I didn’t want that to happen to any other dog,” he said.
He said he wanted everyone to know it’s wrong and should never happen.
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Makhi will be inaugurated at the Old State House in January.
The six runners up will serve as the kid governor’s cabinet and help to support his platform.