In an effort to be proactive in encouraging public awareness of positive stories of the dwarfism community the Little People of America month declared October National Dwarfism Awareness Month. The City of Cambridge officially acknowledged this important recognition by appointing Charles “CJ” Dupont – Grade 6 CSUS Scholar as the Mayor for the day. On Oct. 28th, the CSUS community proudly sponsored a 6th grade assembly organized by Ms. Kini Griffin and Ms. Sara Reese which featured presentations by CJ and Juli Walker the Massachusetts President of Little People of America. On Oct. 31st, CJ served as the CSUS principal of the day. His reflection of his experiences as mayor and principal is below. Thank you CJ and Juli for your inspiration!
What were your responsibilities as mayor for the day? What did you gain from being mayor for the day?
My responsibilities as mayor for the day was to say the people’s names that were suppose to talk and just sit back and relax. What I gained as mayor was a medal from the Commander of DCMA and responsibility.
What were your responsibilities as principal for the day? What did you gain from being principal for the day?
My responsibilities as principal for a day were to keep students in a single file line and to keep them quiet in the hallway in the lower school. What I gained from principal was to have pizza with a friend and with Mr. Fernandez.
What traits, beliefs, and values must a mayor/principal have? What are the expectations of a mayor/principal?
The values of to be mayor and principal are to respect everybody around you and to keep the city and school in order. The expectations are to make the city and school a happy place and to keep people and students safe.
How has being mayor and principal changed your views about school, your peers, politics, and your community?
They have change me by being more responsible and by having a lot of people know me because I was in the newspaper and it helped the community by showing that I'm not different then them and I could do stuff they could do.
What advice would you give to the next mayor/principal?
I would tell them that to be a mayor it is hard because you would be in charge of all of Cambridge and that they have to help the city when the city needs help not when he/she wants to give help. And for principal I would tell them this school is the best school ever and that they need to keep it that way that everybody could be happy and also that the best principal in the city worked here and so he/she is lucky to work here and have me as a student
Have you changed by taking on this leadership role?
I take on more responsibilities. It was fun.