Kid President goes viral in campaign to make nation more awesome
At 9 years old, he has a , a viral YouTube video, and a mock logo that reads 鈥淪eal of the Tiny President of the United States.鈥�
The Kid President鈥檚 motto: 鈥淒on鈥檛 be in a Party. Be a Party.鈥�
His 鈥淧ep Talk鈥� YouTube video (see below) has been taking social media sites by storm for the past week, and the message is simple: 鈥淭he world needs you to stop being boring鈥�. Boring is easy.鈥�
The adorable boy sending smiles around the world is Robby Novak of Henderson, Tenn., who has been posting videos on the SoulPancake YouTube channel since October with the help of his adult brother-in-law, Bradley Montague, the TodayNews website reports. Novak appeared on the "Today" show Wednesday.
SoulPancake, founded by Rainn Wilson of 鈥淭he Office,鈥� encourages people 鈥渢o explore what it means to be human.鈥�
Kid President鈥檚 take on that includes this comment from his video: 鈥淭his is life, people. You got air coming through your nose. You got heartbeat. That means it鈥檚 time to do something!鈥�
The video, in which Robby is dressed in a dark suit and red tie, weaves together humor, music, pithy philosophical comments, cute dance moves, poetry, and gentle reprimands to grownups.
After quoting from Robert Frost鈥檚 鈥淭he Road Not Taken,鈥� he says, if there really were two paths, 鈥淚 want to be on the one that leads to awesome.鈥�
The video has had more than 6.4 million hits so far.
Among the people passing it around via Twitter were actor Nick Cannon; Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J.; and Kaya Henderson, chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools.
The Monitor checked in with a third-grade class at Smithfield Elementary School in North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to get their take on the video.
Students in Heather England鈥檚 class won the 鈥淚f We Were President鈥� contest by education-servinces company Pearson with a video of a song they wrote, 鈥淰ote Me Maybe,鈥� inspired by the election season.
The Kid President鈥檚 video was 鈥済reat鈥� because it sends the message that 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 matter who you are,鈥�听it鈥檚 what鈥檚 inside that counts,鈥� says Davis, one of the third-graders, in a phone interview.
鈥淚t encourages you and motivates you to do the right things,鈥� adds his classmate Jada. 鈥淕od made us for a reason 鈥� not just to sit around,鈥� she said.
Robby reminds the students of Martin Luther King Jr., because he encourages people to work together, Ms. England says.
Robby鈥檚 video raises the question of what would happen if Michael Jordan had given up, and that really resonated with her students, she says. 鈥淭hey talked about, 鈥極n a test, what if I had given up? Last time I made a 鈥楤鈥� and I didn鈥檛 get upset, and now I have an 鈥楢鈥�,鈥� she says.
The school shows an inspirational video each morning, and England was surprised this one hadn鈥檛 been shown schoolwide yet. The videos generate conversations and help students and adults alike stay motivated, she says.
鈥淚 wish more adults 鈥� had the mindset of kids,鈥� England says.
She recently reinstated a practice she and her students did regularly in the month of November 鈥� starting the class by writing down what they are grateful for. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who needs it more, me or the kids,鈥� she says.
Robby has been praised by marketing experts for his savvy use of social media. But it doesn鈥檛 appear he鈥檚 angling to sell anything but encouragement (he does have one simple T-shirt for sale on his website, which is sponsored by his mom). At the end of the "Pep Talk" video he dedicates it to a young friend who is fighting cancer.
听鈥淲ho encourages you?鈥� he asks 鈥� urging viewers pass the video along to them to let them know.
