Author: Rosie Lenenga

Hi, my name is Saanvi and I am a cabinet member for the 2025 Oregon kid governor program. I’m very excited to write my fourth blog about how I got to meet a senator.

I recently got an invitation from Senator Janeen Sollman to visit the Capitol. We drove to Salem with a lot of morning traffic but made it just in time. When we got to the Capital there was a speech happening right in front, so we had to sneak around but managed to get inside. Once inside, we had to go through the security and after that through these “gold” elevators to the second floor. We went to Senator Sollman’s office, but she wasn’t there yet. Instead, I noticed someone familiar, and it happened to be one of the HSD school board members. After chatting a bit, we saw Senator Sollman. We went into her office, and I gave her a painting that I made as a gift. Then we sat and I talked about my platform, 3-point plan, and what I did in the past 5 months. She seemed very enthusiastic about my platform and gave me a lot of ideas.

After the meeting with Senator Sollman, we got a tour of the capital by the HSD board member. We got to see a hearing room where people can testify for a law to be passed. As we were walking, we ran into Representative Susan McLain. Then we were escorted to the Senate Chamber since Senator Sollman gave me courtesy. It was super exciting, as I got to sit right next to Senator Sollman. In the courtesy, Senator Sollman introduced me and then shared my platform, 3-point plan, and my work over the last 5 months. At the end of the courtesy tour, meeting Senator Sollman and Representative McLain, I don’t think I could be happier!

Happy Summer break Everyone!!! My name is Syon Bhendigeri and I am part of this year’s Awesome Oregon Kids Governor Cabinet Team. We all from this team have been busy finishing up elementary school and super excited & energized to embrace the middle school journey soon. We also have met a couple of times together and talked about what we have been doing.

My platform is “Preventing Mental Illness” in kids and community. My 3 point plan is LOVE where

• L stands for “Listen to kids and the community who are going through such difficult situations or see someone go through”
• O stands for “Organize creative but innovative after school events like Art sessions, tree planting, etc.”
• V+E stands for “Volunteer To Execute – I would like to request my fellow friends to volunteer so we can execute these plans and help prevent this issue.”

You all must have heard about YOGA. Have you tried doing yoga? Have you ever wondered how Yoga helps many of us humans? The name YOGA comes from Indian Origin which means “To join or to unite”. This symbolizes the union of Body and Consciousness. Yoga is basically composed of variations of stretches and breathing exercises. Yoga is one way to prevent mental illness, anxiety, and stress. It can be a valuable tool in preventing and managing mental illness by promoting relaxation, reducing stress hormones, and increasing “feel-good” chemicals. It can also improve cognitive function and overall well-being through breathing exercises, meditation, and physical postures. Yoga helps us in flexibility, strength, balancing, reducing stress, enhanced sleep and the list goes on and on.

Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced “International Yoga Day” to be celebrated on June 21st. It is celebrated only on June 21st as its summer solstice. As part of this year’s celebrations, Consulate General of India(CGI) Seattle is partnering with local volunteering groups to lead for the first time to organize “International Yoga Day” on June 21st 2025 in 9 states and 16 cities. The BEST part about this event is that this event is “FREE” and being organized for all ages. In Oregon, this event will be held in 2 places – Hillsboro and Corvallis.

This is a great opportunity where I could use my 3-point plan which is VE( volunteering to execute). As yoga helps kids and adults reduce stress and anxiety. I’m working along with a few local non-profit groups to raise awareness and drive around my platform. I encourage and urge each one of you to take advantage of this upcoming event. Bring yourself and your loved ones as this will not only help you but it will also help people around you.

I hope you support this cause, event and join this amazing FREE event. Just bring your smile, your friends and family. Please don’t forget a yoga mat and to wear something comfy!!! Hope you can share this event details to your friends and family — the more, the merrier!!!

Register below and come have fun with us!!! Let’s bend, stretch, breathe, and build a strong community together!!!

Register Here

Hi, my name is Saanvi and I am a cabinet member for the 2025 Oregon kid governor program. I’m very excited to write my third blog and updates about my work.

After presenting my platform and 3C plan to Hillsboro School District (HSD) Board, I met in person with the HSD superintendent. At the meeting I talked about how I wanted to grow my platform about reducing homelessness. I shared a few different ideas to execute my 3C plan, but he really liked my idea of hosting a supply drive at my school and encouraged organizing the drive.

Once I finalized my idea, I started planning for the drive at school. I created a flyer that said the things that HomePlate (the homeless shelter that I support via my platform) needed like, toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, floss, toothpaste. I created a flyer and shared it at my school assembly. I gave a brief speech at my assembly saying who I am, my platform, the drive, the supplies needed, and how long the drive was. I involved 5th graders to help hang up posters around the school. Initially, I wasn’t getting many supplies in the time period so I extended it for 2 more weeks and got a lot more supplies. After the supply drive was over, I counted all the supplies up with the help of my peers. I ended up collecting over 500 items!

I donated all the supplies to HomePlate and they seemed very happy.

It was a very satisfying experience and I am very thankful to my school community, my principal and my grade teacher and my class to help with this drive.

Hello everyone,

As some of you may be aware, my name is Ryker Yun, and I am a proud member of the 2025 Oregon Kid Governor Cabinet. I am pleased to present my second blog post, where I will share an update on my platform of assisting families in poverty. Recently, I have been actively involved in several initiatives that align with my platform. One notable event was a donation drive that was also a school competition that I organized in collaboration with the Beaverton Resource Center. Together, we successfully raised 4000 donations of various toiletries and travel sized personal hygiene items.

Another significant event was the pancake breakfast at my school held in conjunction with the Secretary of State Tobias Read. This event was where we got some of the donations. I am grateful for Secretary Read’s attendance and support.





Both of these events were integral to my platform and will leave a lasting impact on me. I am committed to continuing to engage in such initiatives in the future. I also have partnered with the pantry at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Portland. Upon reaching out to the pantry, I discovered that the guests frequently requested granola bars, but the pantry lacked sufficient supply. To address this issue, we contacted Safeway and inquired about the possibility of donating a few boxes of granola bars. Safeway graciously agreed to provide the donation. We subsequently held a meeting with Mr. Rick Edmunds, the store manager, to get the granola bars. Mr. Edmunds was very kind to help get the granola bars.



On May 31st, my family volunteered in Trinity’s pantry and helped feed those in need. Almost everybody wanted to have a bar in their meal. They were a big hit! That is what has been going on with my platform. I hope to do more soon! Until then, stay cool and have a great summer!

Hello, my name is Desmond Bennett and I am one of the Oregon Kid Governor Cabinet Members for 2025. I really enjoyed the inauguration at the state capitol back in January and have continued to push my platform since then. My platform is to end bullying with my plan to S.A.C. bullying.

• The S stands for stand together. There is power in numbers and if we all stand together bullies won’t have the power to bully others.
• The A stands for awareness of culture. As we become aware of others cultures we won’t hurt them without knowing it.
• The C stands for common object bullying. It’s important to care for our toys and resources because it isn’t just humans that can be bullied.

It’s important for us to not only take care of those around us but also the stuff around us. I continue to stand up for those who are being bullied. In my school, I have helped my principal make skits about how to include and not bully others. I will continue to be an advocate for others and because of my platform I have had others come and ask me if they can be my friend. I will continue to be a safe place for others and I hope you will too.

I encourage everyone to stand up for others when they see someone treating them poorly or see someone getting bullied. If you see something say something. Be an up-stander not a bystander. Help me end bullying by standing up for others and in the end you might have a life long friend. Be kind to everyone because you never know what others are going through.

Thank you for your support and for reading my post, and don’t forget to be kind. —Desmond

Community Speeches

Hi, my name is Saanvi and I am a cabinet member for the 2025 Oregon kid governor program. It has been a while since I have posted, but I’m very excited to write my second blog.

I have been busy creating awareness about my platform. I also attended the Kid Governor Summit and it was fun to meet a lot of people from other states.

I was invited to talk about my platform at the HSD (Hillsboro School District) school board meeting. We waited in the lobby for the event to start. It was a big room with a long table with all board members sitting. There were 2 big projectors and a podium on the side. There was an audience on one side and school staff in front of the podium. The meeting was also being recorded and broadcasted on projectors.

Once everyone settled, one of the board members shared the agenda and we all stood for the pledge of allegiance. I was first on the agenda & before I started, they checked if I was able to reach the mic, but I was a few inches short, so they got me a step stool to reach the mic.

Then one of the board members introduced me and why I was at the event. I shared my platform, 3 -point plan and what support I needed from the HSD team to work on my plan. After the speech, everyone applauded and said I did a very good job. Then they asked me to come up for a picture with the board members. I felt a bit nervous initially since I had to address all these adults but then as I started speaking, I felt more confident as everyone was paying attention.

My next speech was at the YAC (Youth Advisory Council). I was invited to share my platform and plan with the highschoolers. The meeting was held at the police station. Once we got there someone escorted me to the meeting room. Also in the room there was a table with a lot of snacks and candies, it was very tempting to get all of it but I didn’t want to get a sugar high.

After we got settled in, one member shared the schedule. I addressed the audience and surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I was asked some questions about my platform. I also stayed to listen to the other YAC members about their work. The main one was talking about school lunches which was actually interesting.

My name is Jordyn Mouton and I ran for 2025 Oregon Kid Governor, and I am now a member of Kid Governor, Rosie’s cabinet. I ran with a platform on Racism and Discrimination with my 3 point plan RPS.

• “R” stands for “RAISE awareness for racism and discrimination”.
• “P” stands for “PREVENT racism and discrimination”.
• “S” stands for “STAND up for others when you see someone make a racist/discriminative remark against someone else”.

I started my Kid Governor journey close to the beginning of the school year. My teacher had informed the entire class about how our school was participating in the Kid Governor elections for the first year ever, along with all the details about it. I was super interested in the opportunity and immediately knew what my platform would be on as I have a strong passion for equality. My school first ran elections in each 5th grade classroom, each candidate had about a week to write our speech. I won my class election and advanced into elections for the entire 5th grade where I had to present my speech in front of all of 5th grade. I went up against 3 other kids from 3 other classes beside mine. It was a super tense time because everyone wanted to win and go up against other kids around the state, but we also were very supportive of each other. I was in my class when my name was announced over the intercom that I had won the election for my school; my class and I screamed of joy. After that, I asked a few of my friends to help me write big signs for me to read for my video to submit for my official candidacy.

When I heard the exciting news that I was elected onto the Kid Governor Cabinet, I was in Texas visiting my cousins and Ms. Nikki called my mom to tell her the exciting news. My mom and I were super excited and I could not wait for my cousins to get home from school so we could tell them the news.

One of my favorite parts of being a part of the Kid Governor program has been the Inauguration. The Inauguration was so exciting, but also nerve wrecking. I was excited to see Rosie and my fellow cabinet members in person and to be sworn in, but also nervous because there was a lot of people that I had to speak in front of. That experience I will never forget and I am so happy my family was there with me and my schoolmates got to live stream the event.

Since I have gotten sworn in, I have put up posters all around my school of different hero’s and legends of colored history. Examples of people are, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges. Another thing I have been working on is getting with multiple kids from my school too put on a short film about a girl getting discriminated against by a group of kids and the story of understanding and resolution. I plan to be able to have an assembly or some sort of talk with other kids from my school about what racism or discrimination means to them and how they can prevent it.

If you would like to support my platform, you can stand up if you see somebody experiencing discrimination and educate the discriminator.

Hello everyone. My name is Ryker Yun and I am honored to be a member of the Oregon Kid Governor 2025 cabinet. My platform is helping families in poverty. I chose this issue because whenever I saw someone, especially a child, without food to eat and a roof to sleep under, I felt sad and wished that there was some way to be able to help them. I believe that children should have access to resources to help them have a brighter future.

My three-point-plan to help families in poverty is SFV. The “S” in SFV means Send Support. To do this, we will set up donation banks at schools. The items in these donation banks will be made into care bags which will be sent out to places that can disperse them. The “F” stands for fundraise. I plan to host fundraisers to buy items for the donation bags or donate it to nonprofit organizations. Finally, the “V” stands for volunteering at organizations like Meals on Wheels or food pantries.

Right now, my school, Bonny Slope Elementary SZO will be hosting a donation drive all throughout May but specifically at our pancake breakfast event which will be on May 17th from 7:30 to 10:30 AM. We are partnering with the Beaverton Resource Center to host this drive. We will have donation bins by the office in the front. We are encouraging the community to bring sealed personal hygiene items as donations.

Some things you could do to support my plan are: Donate to Nonprofits and shelters, spread the word, and volunteer your time at places like food pantries and shelters. I have volunteered many hours in Downtown Portland and enjoy helping those in need. I am looking forward to welcoming many special guests to our pancake breakfast event. Thank you for reading this blog! Until next time, Ryker Yun.

On Saturday I was able to throw the ceremonial first pitch for the Hillsboro Hops! Earlier in the week I was preparing for the Hops game so I practiced pitching over 100 times. Before this week I knew nothing about baseball, but now I know about grand slams, home runs, stealing bases, how to pitch, what a strike is, the difference between an infielder and a outfielder, and what an umpire actually does. Overall I had an amazing time. I think my pitch went great, and got to learn about baseball.

Since my inauguration in January I have gotten to do so much! Like participating in the Kid Governor Summit, Testify in Salem, Interview Rep Helm, and help organize a Town Hall. Today I get to add “help organize a field trip to Tryon Creek” to my ever growing list. Because Earth day is tomorrow, I had the idea of having a field trip to Tryon Creek to learn more about nature. This thought was able to come true today! The whole fifth grade was able to rotate through different stations to learn about macroinvertebrates, or different types of edible plants at Tryon Creek. I am so grateful to be able to learn about nature, and about our Earth! Here are some pictures of our adventure!