We Can All Be 'Kid President'

‘Kid President’ is a series of YouTube videos and a television show produced by an organization called Soul Pancake. Kid President is played by an 11-year-old actor named Robby Novak, who shares inspiring ideas about how to change the world and pep talks and advice about how people should connect with each other. The idea came about from Brad Montague, the owner’s (and Robby’s brother-in-law) camp experience with young people who wanted to change the world and it made him think: “Wouldn’t it be cool if we listened to kids more?” Kid President recently recorded and distributed a video on Martin Luther King, Jr., sharing what MLK did to change the world and how his words and actions relate to our lives today.

This lesson uses Kid President’s recent video on Martin Luther King, Jr. as a jumping off point to talk with elementary students about activists. Students in grades 2–5 will have the opportunity to learn more about the activities and qualities of activists, identify and explore famous and ordinary activists and conduct research on an activist of their choice which will culminate in a written speech and video that is similar in style to Kid President’s video.