As New Hampshire’s newly elected Kid Governor for 2025, fifth-grader Jade Adams from Wells Memorial School in Harrisville, N.H., hopes to make New Hampshire the 13th state to ban animal testing. The Kid Governor program is a national award-winning civics program for fifth graders created by the Connecticut Democracy Center and has been implemented in four states. In New Hampshire, the program is led by civics education organization N.H. Civics in partnership with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, an academic institute at Saint Anselm College. According to Adams, she entered a primary in her classroom and won her school’s nomination during a school-wide election. With the help of her friends and family, she created a campaign video that focused on animal testing. Last November, fifth graders around New Hampshire selected Jade in the state-wide election for Kid Governor, against six other finalists. As she begins her one-year term, The Dartmouth sat down with Adams to talk about her experience with the Kid Governor election process, the position so far and her hopes for the remainder of her term.
Why did you decide to run for New Hampshire Kid Governor?
JA: My teacher has been doing the Kid Governor program for a while now, and she said to us, “If you want to do it, you can just think of a community issue.” I wanted to do animal testing, and I wanted to be the Kid Governor.
What did the election process look like?
JA: We made little videos with our class, and a bunch of different fifth graders from around the state watched them and voted.
Why did you choose animal testing as your platform?
JA: Well, I love animals, and I’ve always been an animal lover. I’ll never stop being an animal lover. Before I ran for Kid Governor, I didn’t really think about animal testing. When I started to research it, I thought, “This is really bad. I need to fix this.”
Animal testing is an issue because a lot of animals are dying. You want to let an animal live its life, and you want it to have as good of a life as it can have. And the lives of the animals who are being tested on — that’s not a very good life. Over 100 million animals are estimated to have been burned and crippled and poisoned and abused in U.S. labs every year. That’s a lot of animals. Animal testing has been happening since as far back as 500 B.C. It needs to be changed.
How do you plan to stop animal testing in New Hampshire?
JA: I want to help these animals by encouraging people in New Hampshire to buy products that are cruelty-free and write letters to the governor’s office so that we can make a difference. I also want to travel to New Hampshire schools and give speeches educating students about animal cruelty and how animals should be treated.
Who will you work with to accomplish this goal?
JA: I work with New Hampshire Civics. I work with a lot of different kids on it. I also work with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. Tomorrow, I’m meeting House Representative Diane Kelley who is sponsoring H.B. 401 on animal legislation. It’s been really good working with other people. A lot of people think that animal testing is an issue. At the State House, everyone was so friendly and nice. Everybody was like, “Oh, Jade, come here with me. I want to show you something.” Kelly — Governor Ayotte — is so nice.
So far, is there a moment during your administration that’s been particularly memorable?
JA: It was really exciting when, at the end of a school day, my teachers first told me that I was the Kid Governor — they just told me personally, and then I told the whole school. They usually just want to get me out of the door because I’m always so late leaving school, but my teacher was holding me there, trying to stall me. All of a sudden the teachers were like, “We’re gonna have a meeting, and we need to tell everybody.” And they told me that I was elected Kid Governor, and it was really special.
What have you learned so far as Kid Governor?
JA: I learned that everybody’s ideas should be used. I have an executive council with the six Kid Governor runners-up, and all of their platforms are so good. I would have wanted any of us to win because all of our platforms were so creative, and they were all real issues. Other kids platformed on homelessness, littering, depression, buddy mentoring, helping people with disabilities, smoking and vaping and childhood hunger. And all these issues need to be fixed. We’re all gonna work together to make a difference in all of those.
What’s your hope for future Kid Governors of New Hampshire?
JA: My hope for future Kid Governors is that if a kid has an issue that they’re very passionate about, I hope they can fix it. That would be exciting. I’d like to see that kids can make a difference. And everybody’s ideas should be heard. And everybody who has something to say should say it.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
