The American Legion Post 328 in Morrison, IL, is interested in sponsoring a High School Senior (eligibility is slightly broader) to the 85th Session of Illinois Premier Boys State hosted by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. The event is Saturday, June 12, through Friday, 18, 2021. Costs will be covered by Morrison Post 328.
For details contact 815-310-0333 or MorrisonAmericanLegion.org. Visit the Illinois Premier Boys State website at https://illinoisboysstate.org. American Legion Auxiliary sponsors a separate but similar program for young women called Girls State.
At Boys State participants learn the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship. Although fictional Political Parties are created, and the citizens are randomly assigned to one, Boys State is nonpartisan in the sense of U. S. or Illinois Political Parties. The hands-on political and Governmental elements of the program center around creating and facilitating City, County, and State Governments.
Boys State activities include various levels of Legislative sessions, Political Party caucuses, four different Election cycles, General Assemblies, band concerts, Law Enforcement presentations, recreational programs, and so much more. We truly believe that the lessons learned and the informal interactions in this program create a week that shapes a lifetime.
American Legion Illinois Premier Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of Government instruction for High School students. It is a participatory program in which students learn by doing and become part of the operation of City, County, and State Governments. Now a National program of the American Legion, Boys State was founded in Illinois in 1935 to counter the socialism-inspired Young Pioneer Camps. The program was founded by three Illinois Legionnaires, Hayes Kennedy, Harold Card, and Matthew Murphy, who organized the first Boys State at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, IL. That is why we use the moniker “Premier” as part of our title; we are Premier.
American Legion posts select High School Juniors to attend the program in June, right after their Junior year. In most cases, individual expenses are paid by a sponsoring Legion Post, a local business, or another community-based organization. Parents and grandparents are also able to sponsor a citizen.
Boys State and Girls State programs currently exist in every State of our Union. As separate corporations, Boys State and Girls State programs vary in content and method of procedure, but each adheres to the same basic concept: teaching Government from the City to the State level. Two participates from each Boys State and Girls State program are selected to then participate as Senators at Boys Nation and Girls Nation.
