Small Town News

Students share experiences at summer leadership Boys Girls State program

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Creating their own cities, electing their own public officials and even doing silly dances to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" were among the adventures both fun and educational that young representatives from around the state had at a recent Boys and Girls State convention.

Boys State and Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs sponsored by the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary for high school students between their junior and senior years.Most recent participants from Superior High School were Twila Hernandez, Rudy Betan-court and Manuel Ortega, who attended the separate programs for girls and boys, respectively."Girls State is a unique citizenship training program that guides the youth of our nation toward an understanding, comprehension and appreciation of their roles as United States citizens," Hernandez said in a written report that will be presented to the Governing Board of the Superior Unified School District about her experiences in the program.

She explained how the delegates to Girls State were divided into two political parties, the National and Federalists. "At Girls State, we studied local county and state government processes. To get the feel of it, we set up our own miniature city, county and state governments and administered them according to the laws of our state," she said in her report. "My county, for example, was Yucca. The year before, the city was named Yucca Yoshi's, but our city changed the name to Yin Yan Yucca's. We based our community on a Chinese theme. We were all in the same hall so we decorated our door as if it were a community. There were nail salons, libraries and even a Panda Express."

This "community" had to come up with a reason why it had changed the town name, Hernandez said; Thestory involved an invasion of Yucca, swine flu, riots and then harmony, "thus changing the name to Yin Yang Yucca's," she concluded.

Hernandez said that Girls State has changed the way she thinks about politics. "It helped me understand what is actually going on in our country. I would recommend it to anyone, especially who is NOT into politics," she said.

Manuel Ortega and Rudy Betancourt are submitting a joint report to the school board about their Boys State experience, which they term "incredible." They said they made many new friends and learned about government and how the courtroom works. "Courtrooms can get really crazy," they noted in their report.

The Boys State participants also had to create their own cities. "There were three cities in a county," Betancourt andOrtega said. "For each city, we had to create our own charter. Each city made their own laws and claimed their own properties, which were located on the NAU campus."

Recreation opportunities at Boys State included football, basketball, Frisbee and volleyball tournaments. There was also a running group.

"We were able to elect a governor, senators, house of representatives, and supreme court judges to represent our cities," Betancourt and Ortega said.'

The delegates wore name badges. "If we forgot our badges, we had to do the 'I'm a Little Teapot Dance,' in front of everyone to get them back," the two participants said in their report.

They added that "overall, it was a great experience and one that we will never forget."



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© 2009 The Superior Sun Superior, Nebraska. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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