Through your senior year in high school, and we both want to thank you. We have two teenagers at home ourselves. Mr. Moffit we do. [laughter] gov. Raimondo and, like many of you, we are living the ups and downs of Distance Learning and being stuck at home. I hope today provides you the opportunity to tune in and get some of your questions answered, and if nothing else, just realize that theres a lot of kids out there who are in a situation just like yours. This is not going perfectly or easily for anybody. Some days are good. Some days arent too good. And overall, youre doing an unbelievable job. But its a hard time. And so we just have to stick with it a day at a time and do the best we can every day. Just like last time, i want to begin with a huge thank you to our teachers. Hats off to the teachers and all the educators and coaches and principals and superintendents. Mr. Moffit yeah, its really incredible. Gov. Raimondo it is incredible. I mean, rhode island is a shining star across america for the success that were having with Distance Learning. I wasnt sure if we would be able to pull this off when we started, and it has gone better than anyone expected. I also want to thank all the parents out there and aunts and uncles and grandparents who are going along with this, with the children in your house. Like andy and i i know its not easy. Sometimes the kids get frustrated. We dont this as kids, so thank you for your patience. But most of all, i want to say thank you to the kids. Youre incredible. Youre being creative. Youre rolling with it. I know it is hard. You dont get to see your friends. Play sports, to and that kind of stinks. And so i just want to say im sorry it has to be this way. It is this way so we can keep you healthy and safe. I really hope were going to be able to open school in september just the way we normally would, and until then, were just asking you to stick with it. We just have another month or so to go, so stick with it. Get it your all, finish strong. Thats just so important. Like in gymnastics, stick the landing. We want you guys to stick with it for until the end of school. We have a couple of quick announcements, and then ill turn it over to andy. One is some kids out there are still struggling, we know, with not enough wifi. Maybe there are three or four kids in the house trying to learn. You only have one computer. Theres not enough internet in the house for everybody to be working at the same time. So i want to promise you that were going to keep doing more until everybody has what they need to do the schoolwork in the in their house. If youre struggling at home, if you dont have a good enough computer, you cant get your schoolwork done, let your teacher know. Because if your teacher knows, he or she can tell us. About a week or so ago, we heard from a couple of School Districts that some kids are struggling. So we said, lets do something about it. The Rhode Island Foundation said they would give 100,000 grant if other people matched that grant. And people did. 70 people wrote in and said we we want to give money to match the grant. There are two that i want to call out specifically. Cvs health donated 150,000 to the one socket education Woonsocket Education Department for the purchase of 750 chromebooks for students in grades three through five. So way to go. Way to go, cvs. Way to go Rhode Island Foundation. And then Brown University donated 100,000 to the Providence School district to support interact access for 900 students for the next year. So were getting this done together. And i hope thank you to brown so much. Thank you to cvs so much. And to all the kids that will benefit from that, i hope it makes your life easier and school a little bit more fun. Last thing i want to say is this i know some people are struggling more than others. Were all struggling for being cooped up in our houses. And maybe youre mommy or dad has lost their job during this. Maybe youre cramped up in a small house. A few kids, parents. One bathroom. It is not always fun. Maybe your parents are extra stressed out. Maybe they lost their job. Theres a lot of people going through that right now, so if youre hearing me say that, i want you to know that were not alone. And we are going to try every day to make things better for you. But if you feel unsafe at home, or somebodys hurting you at home, i want you to let your teacher know or let one of the adults in your life who you know loves you know, because thats not ok. And we want to make sure we get you some help. Also, if youre feeling really anxious or depressed or scared , and you are just really struggling with this emotionally, than we want to help you with that, too. Weve set up a whole new system called kids link, which is designed to help Kids Mental Health services that they need to provide you with support. That phone number is 18555435465. So you could call yourself, you know, if youre a teenager or old enough or if youre a parent or teacher hearing me say that, and you have a kid in your life who is really struggling, dont be shy. Do not be shy. We set up kids link because we know that everybodys going through something right now. 8555435465. Mr. Moffit thank you, dear. Its such an important thing. Its really nice to be back here. Frankly, its nice to be back anywhere outside of my house. I think today was one of the first times ive gotten in my car in a really long time. So for a lot of you who are out there watching, working from home, im right there with you. This is a nice opportunity to get out. And frankly, it is nice to be invited back. You never know how this goes. Friend of mine said, after watching last time, dont quit your day job. So im flattered that you guys asked me back. I wanted to talk about the questions from the wonderful students across rhode island. I just want to talk about the topic of Mental Health and Emotional Health and how youre feeling. I want to speak first to the kids who are watching out there today. Its ok if youre not feeling ok. In fact, most of us arent. You know, this is a time of great uncertainty, anxiety. You know concern for safety. ,this is out of our normal rhythms and routines. So that is ok. And to the parents out there, it is really important to talk about it. You know, we have to acknowledge and think about how difficult this is, how difficult it can be. We dont have all the answers. We can certainly assure everyone that with this state and this Leadership Team and all the parents who are out there are , we are working very hard to make sure that you, the , your lovedur kids ones are a save as possible. We are making sure and thats a really important thing. But as part of that, talking about it, the great folks at Bradley Hospital and the clinicians who train the kids link service, have created a new free coloring book, particularly the earliest grades, called coloring my way. Its learning about coronavirus. This is rizzo raccoon. She goes through this whole process and its really great. You can go through this, read the stories with your parents or kids, you can read it to your parents. It talks about all these different motions that you might be feeling. The uncertainty, the anxiety, the confusion. This can be downloaded. I know a lot of schools are passing this out as a work sheet that might be going home in school. It can be downloaded at Bradley Hospital. And its done both in english and in spanish. And its a great opportunity for parents to talk to their kids about the kinds of feelings you might be having and refer back to them when those things get difficult. I just want to say, before we get to the question, that its really important for you to take care of yourself. For the kidside, ou gina said, for the kids out there, Say Something to your parents. Theyre probably on. Theres this coloring book. Theres one way to get started. So with that, lets jump to the questions the student journalists who were out there, again, we received thousands of these. Its wonderful, the curiosity, the honesty that students across exhibiting them questions. Gina, question number one. Tegan is a preschool student in South Kingston who asked why does my mask have to be on when im going somewhere . Very smart prek student. Gov. Raimondo very smart prek student. Tegan, im glad you have a mask. That makes me very happy. The best way to spread this disease, the way that it spreads the most, is when people sneeze or cough. So the virus is inside of inside of, you know, inside of your mouth, inside of your nose, and when you sneeze, the mask prevents the virus from spreading. By wearing your mask, it opportunity prevent you from getting sick, but it prevents you from spreading it to anyone else. We have our masks, our kids our have a mask. It is a little weird to wear them. Its hard to breathe. It gets hot if you wear them for a long time. Fewer people t get sick. Sneezing, you are make sure you sneeze into your elbow, and cover your mouth when you cough. Mr. Moffit and youll see in the color book, rizzo does that and its a little bit like dabbing. Lets go to gabriella. Gaby asked a really good question. Can we make signs to cheer up when people walk by . Yes, i would love if you did that. Send me a sign. Gabriella, send us a sign. Youre in second grade in warwick. Im asking you maybe have your whole class do it. You could ask your teacher to arrange this. Draw me a special sign and send it to me. And ill put it up at my window. At the statehouse. But its a great thing to do. And to the rest of the kids out there, i want you to try to do one thing every day to cheer somebody up. By the way, all of the adults out there should be doing this, too. Just one act of kindness every day. Send somebody a funny text. Draw somebody a funny picture. Say i thank you. I love you. Just try once a day to do one thing that will cheer somebody else up. Mr. Moffit and tegan, im sorry, gabriella, when gina comes home, i try to be there. Im working from home. I probably should have some signs that says welcome home. For so many parents out there who are working on the front line, you know, surveying in hospitals or in Healthcare Settings or Grocery Stores all , of us owe you a debt of gratitude. If you want to thank them, i think that would be a really, really nice gesture. All right. Liliana, fourth grader. Providence. Gov. Raimondo hi, liliana. Mr. Moffit liliana asks, im really looking forward to summer camp. Im wondering how camp will be different in this year from last year. Liliana. Our kids are looking gov. Raimondo thank you, liliana. Our kids are looking forward to their camps, too. So im not sure exactly how camps will be different, but they will be different. Were not going to be allowed to get together in big groups of people. I am not sure what kind of camp youre used to doing. We want to get together in small groups this summer. 10 kids, 15 kids. Small groups of people. And also were going to try to have a lot more virtual after camps and cool, new activities. So were work really hard every day, so that you can have some camps this summer. Sports camps, outdoor camps, learning camps. Im going to make sure there are camps. They are going to be under new rules and restrictions. Were going to have to wash our hands more. Were going to have to wear our masks. You might have to take your temperature before we go into the camp, and we cant get in big groups of people. Those of the ways it will be different. Were still working on it. I hear you that you want your camp, and were going to do our best. Mr. Moffit victoria is also from providence and is a fifth grader. Victoria asks, when the number of infected people go down, will businesses and parks start to open up again . Gov. Raimondo yes, victoria. You are very smart. You should come work on my team. Thats exactly the plan. So right now, the number of infections is not going down yet. Its actually kind of flat, which is great. Last time we talked to you, it was going up. Now it is flat. Pretty soon, it will start to go down. And when it starts to go down, thats when we can go to the park. We can go to the beach this summer. We can go back out to the store. Your folks might get back to work. So thats exactly the plan. And we have to do it slowly. Its like one step. And then well walk, and then well run. Its not going to be everything open all at once. But yeah, the answer is yes, were going to get to go outside a lot more once the infections go down. Mr. Moffit its a good reminder that in the next couple of weeks, certainly weve got to stick with it. This is no time to letting off, you know, some of things weve been doing, because the fact that its working shows that if we keep doing it, well be in a much better place. Keeping distant, Wearing Masks is something you can push through. Even though it is really hard to be stuck at home, not going to the park. Gov. Raimondo so i want you all to know, even though it is really hard to be stuck at home, not going to the park, not seeing your friends at school, its working. You guys are absolutely savings lives. You know, if you didnt do what youre doing, we would have a lot more sick people in rhode island. Mr. Moffit yeah. Gov. Raimondo we would have a lot more sick people in the hospital. But you havent. Youve done a really good job. So to you and to your teachers and to your parents, even though it is incredibly hard, and i hope you never have to do this again, its working. So you should feel good about yourself that, even if you are a kid, youre playing a role, in fighting coronavirus here on rhode island. Mr. Moffit and if you see someone walk out of their house , you can always ask them wheres the mask . Allison asks, why cant we go back to school and see our friends . Gov. Raimondo our kids miss their friends, too. We miss our friends. Actually, we dont get to see our friends, either. Right now, since theres so much of the virus out there, and since the way the virus spreads is from one person to another, so when you get close to people, and you know, people breathe and sneeze and cough, thats how we spread the virus to each other. So if we let you go back to school and be with your friends, too many people will get sick too fast. And that is why we cannot allow it right now. But soon enough, we will. Mr. Moffit jeffrey, who is a seventh grader in pawtucket, asks, what kind of activities are you doing in your quarantine, dear . Gov. Raimondo well, i have had to work, so i have not gotten much of a quarantine, but maybe my husband will try to answer one of that. That. I try to exercise every day. We walk the dog a lot, the kids and i play outside. We play some basketball. Weve enjoyed doing that together as a family. We go bike riding. So ive tried to ive tried to exercise and get outside, a little bit each day. Mr. Moffit yeah, no, thank you. A lot of these activities we do together, because we want to be together, just the five of us you know, the four of us. We always want to be in groups of less than five. Getting outside is important. Has been amazing to me just how excited ive been to walk our dog. Sparky has been wondering why. I get out. Ive been working on my lawn, raking up the dead grass and trying to get things going for the day. When i cant go out and do something. But the activity ive tried to do, which has not been very popular in the house, is to cook. Ive been trying to cook at least a meal once or twice a week. Im not a very good cook. But its a great thing to feel what we could do differently. Youre learning how to do Distance Learning. Im trying to work something as well. We can ask her when were off camera whether its good. Gov. Raimondo we try to limit him to breakfast. Mr. Moffit i have got to cut you off. How do you prevent stress . Gov. Raimondo thats a great question, nassir. Its a hard thing. I know everybody feels a lot i know everybodys feeling stress every day. If youre feeling stress, its completely normal. Everybody feels more stressed right now. Some things you can do, you can exercise. You can go outside. You can listen to music. You can talk to somebody. Find somebody you can talk to. Maybe its a teacher, maybe its your brother, a sister, a friend. Just somebody. Find somebody you can talk to, somebody who will listen to you,. Also, i would stay in touch with your friends, if you can. If you have a phone or if you have some way to be with your friends online, all that stuff is really important, even though youre at home alone, figure out a way to have contact with people every day. Somehow, every day, try to have some contact with other people , because that will help. But theres no one thing. And some days it will be worse than others. And then the next day, it will be a little bit better. Actually pick up the phone. I think its interesting, you know, a lot of of our communications now are by snapchat or by text and so forth. So calling someone, which i know a lot of the students out there probably dont do that. I have enjoyed connecting with friends. It has been a good excuse to get people to call. And its a small idea for you. Ok. Adonis is a seventh grader in providence. Will the next school year be normal . What is the new normal . Gov. Raimondo so, i depends on what we mean by normal. Its not going to be the way it was last year, because we all have to do things a little differently because of the virus. Youll be going back to school, i hope. The plan is, if everything goes according to the way it is now, youll be able to go back to school, but we will have to be washing your hands a lot more. We might have to make some changes to the way we have lunch and breakfast at school. We will probably have to spread out, fewer kids in the classroom. You may have to wear a mask. Your teachers might have to have masks on. We are going to have to clean your school, every single day, multiple times through the day. So this i think of this its its almost like we have to a dance. Its almost like we have to dance with the virus. Oh. Well [laughter] its a complicated change. Its going to throw us a curveball. We have to change with that. So its not going to be normal. Its not going to be the same old school. Youre going to go back to school. You are going to get to be with your friends. You are going to get to be with your teachers. But there are going to be some changes, and im not exactly sure what that means. October may look different than september. But were going to get you back to school. Its going to be fun. Youre going to learn. And were going to do our best to get through it. Mr. Moffit i have this image of dancing. And i love dancing with you, my dear, but dancing with the virus, i dont know. Feels like its more of like a bullf