Meet Rhode Island’s 2019 Governor for a Day, Cadence Solon!

Cadence Solon is a 10-year-old student from Cumberland who has been selected as this year’s Governor for a Day. She’s a fifth grader at Ashton Elementary who dreams of being a math or special education teacher. Her essay focuses on equal pay for women, the need for ESL and special education teachers in Rhode Island, and school construction.

First, I would like to say that Rhode Island has been my home for 10 years and I’ve loved every year I’ve lived here. There are many things I would change in Rhode Island even though all the governors have done so much for this state. I’m very grateful for everything each governor has done to make the place I live what it is.

Of all the things I would like to change, what I would start with is to have more teachers in school to help children that don’t speak English or have disabilities. Just like we should support our communities with roads and bridges; also we need to support our children’s future and the world they will live in. The way I would achieve this is by sitting down to talk with principals and leaders for schools all across Rhode Island to make sure we have enough space and enough new special teachers. This is important because to succeed some students need help.

A second thing I would change is to have equal pay for men and women. To achieve this I would start with talking to some of the major local company owners about women’s payment and benefits and hope to reach a reasonable agreement where equality is the main goal. This is important because men and women are equal and their payment should show this.

The final thing that I would change is that if we have enough money in our state’s budget I would renovate schools all across Rhode Island. I would achieve this by using part of the state’s money to update the schools. This is important because better schools have better technology and more opportunity for learning for everyone. This will ensure our kids future is bright and ready for them no matter their home situation.

These are only a few things I would change. Even though Rhode Island is great the way it is, we all have room for improvement. We need to do this together to ensure this impacts the most number of
people.