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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2019)
PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 for kids by kids Alayna Garcia SHINEs in race to become Oregon’s kid governor By LAUREN MURPHY Of No Adults Allowed At age 10, Alayna Garcia has spoken in front of the Keizer Chamber of Commerce, the Keizer City Council and the Salem- Keizer Public School Board. She presented them with a video she made for her campaign for Oregon’s Kid Governor. “I’ve been in that building but I’ve actually never gotten to go to one of those things [city council meeting] and those are really important so it was kinda interesting for me,” she said. Alayna, a fi fth grader at Forest Ridge Elementary School, was a fi nalist Oregon’s Kid Governor and made it to the top seven. Alayna’s platform is kid safety, she made the acronym SHINE to help kids be safer. “Me and my mom were trying to think of my three point plan and I remembered this oth- er top seven candidate from last year that did an acronym that was BEAT bullying and we tried to come up with an acro- nym,” Alayna said. SHINE stands for Stranger danger, Helpers to trust, Internet awareness, Know your numbers, and Everybody in a group. Her mom, Janelle, also assisted LEFT: Alayna Garcia speaks to the Keizer City Council. ABOVE: Alayna with Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark. KEIZERTIMES/ Eric A. Howald when it came to helping because my teacher was earn some votes. going to announce it when “We were going to do we got back to class.” Smarties and do ‘Be SMART Some of the other fi nal- and vote for Alayna,’ she ists’ platforms were helping said. “But my kids with disabili- mom bought ties, recycling “Even if you a bunch of and help- don’t win or get Starburst ing the selected you can [candy] ecosys- still move forward by when we tem and thinking of new ways to f i n d i n g decid- ed on homes help this problem.” SHINE.” for dogs — Alayna Garcia W h e n and cats. (age 10) Alayna found “It was out she was one kinda cool to fi nd of the fi nalists, “I had to be out that so many people a little secretive about it wanted to help Oregon become a better place, I think the experience over all was really cool,” she said. She also made some fans closer to home. “It astounds me,” said Rickey Garcia, Alayna’s father, “She’s taken it on and she’s 10 years old and she’s doing these things that I would expect high schoolers to be doing.” What most impressed me about it was, even though she didn’t get elected, she still wanted to get her message out to schools,” her dad said. When she visited Why we celebrate our presidents Most of us didn’t have school on Monday, and while I’m always up for a three-day weekend, I never knew why Presidents Day was important when I was a kid. I fi gured it had something to do with presidents but I couldn’t tell you much more than that. Presidents Day (originally named Washington’s Birthday) used to be on February 22 because that was George Washington’s birthday. Washington’s Birthday became a federal holiday in the early 1870s, like Christmas or Columbus Day, and a lot of people got the day off from work (and school). Almost 100 years later, in the 1960s, Con- gress proposed a measure called, “The Uniform Monday Holiday Act.” This act was designed to move several holidays from specifi c days to Mondays. Memo- rial Day, Columbus Day and Presidents Day were all moved to Mondays. Me- morial Day is the fourth Monday in May, Columbus Day is the second Monday in October and Presidents Day is the third Monday in February. After the move to the third Monday of every February, Presidents Day was now in between Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, and Washington’s birthday, February 22. Many people took this as a chance to celebrate both presidents. Over time, the holiday has become a time to celebrate all presidents, past and current. Invisalign & Traditional Braces Customized Financing • William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States, his grandson Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd. • The youngest president was Teddy Roosevelt. He was 42 when he was fi rst elected president. • James Madison and George Washington were the only two presidents to sign the Constitution. • President Trump is the nation’s 45th president, but in reality there have only been 44. Grover Cleveland is counted as our 22nd and our 24th because his two terms were separated. FOR A FREE CONSULT CALL 503.362.0500 www.haveagreatsmile.com Truly Amazing Smiles the newspaper for an interview, Alayna brought along a sign to put in the offi ce window. “Even if you don’t win or get selected, you can still move forward by thinking of new ways to help with the problem,” Alayna said. “Maybe turn SHINE into a character for like a children’s book.” Her dad suggested a fairy, but Alayna is certain SHINE is a pixie. “The most fun part was having my friends at school help me with it.” she said. “I would encourage kids to do what I’m doing. Even if they don’t win, they can still try to progress with their topic.” orthodontics for children, adolescents & adults SCHOOLHOUSE SQUARE 5099 RIVER ROAD N, KEIZER