Area Students Prepare For Boys State 2009

The Robert H. Burns, American Legion Post 16 held an orientation at the post home for the Boys State 2009 delegates and alternates on Sunday, May 24^th. 

The 70^th Boys State Session will be held on the campus of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches from Saturday, June 27^th and conclude on Friday, July 3^rd.

Twenty-two boys from Posts within the 6^th District attended the Boys State 2009 orientation.  Boys State Chairman Terry Sharp called the meeting to order and Post 16 Commander Mike Peats gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance in unison.  

Post 16 is sponsoring 13 delegates this year; they are Christopher Barr, Jacob Barry, Jacques Damare’, Jonathan Dillon, Jacob Draffen, Carter Fitzgerald, Samuel Henry, Jeff LeBlanc, Chandler McMahan, Matthew Paille, Stephen Rutherford, Thomas Seeger and Albert “Will” Short.    

Boys State Citizens Joshua Paille (2006), Elliott Heintz (2007), Ryan Rushing (2007) and Alex Grashoff (2008) attended the meeting to offer an insight and explanations of the Boys State program.  Rushing will be returning this year as a city counselor and Heintz will be returning for a second year as a counselor.

The objective of the Boys State program is to educate our youth in the duties, rights, and responsibilities of American Citizenship.  Participants learn the practical mechanics of government by actually performing the functions of local and state government.  Applications of the principles of democratic government are made in every possible way.  The Constitution and the statutes of the State of Louisiana are the pattern from which the fundamental law of Boys State has been developed.  Boys State should be regarded as being a mythical fifty-first state with a constitution, statutes, and ordinances constructed by its citizens to govern themselves.

Citizens of Boys State will not only be required to review knowledge already acquired concerning the political machinery of a state, but they will find themselves performing the same duties as real office holders in the everyday world.  Boys State citizens organize their own city, parish and state governments.  They choose their own officials in accordance with regular election procedures.  They learn the duties of the various city, parish and state offices.  They introduce and argue their own bills in the legislature.  Justice is administered by their own law enforcement agencies and courts.  In Boys State the young citizen has the opportunity to learn for himself that his government is just what he makes it, here each citizen “learns by doing.”