Time Running Out for American Legion Boys State Sign-Up

Time is running out for young men to sign up for the American Legion’s annual Boys State Event.

This year, the Georgia Boys State will be held at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville from June 14 – 20th.  The deadline to register is April 22nd.

Successful candidates for the program will be sponsored by the local American Legion Post 109 in Hart County and attend free of charge.

American Legion Boys State is among the most respected educational programs of government instruction for high school students, according to Hart County American Legion Post 109 spokesman Bob Savage.

“Boys go for a week and they live in the dorm with boys from all over the State,” Savage said. “The first day, they create a mythical city. They study how the mayor’s office functions, the councils function. They have candidates and  elections and they actually go through the exercise of running a mythical city.”

The next day and for the rest of the week they do the same thing at the state level. Savage said during the week long event, participants are exposed to the rights and privileges, the duties and the responsibilities of a franchised citizen.

“It is a great learning experience for boys who are interested in that sort of thing,” he said. “Each year about 450 boys from all over the State go. Two of them are ultimately picked to go on to Boys Nation in Washington, D.C.”

To sign up for Boys State this summer, Savage says you must be a Junior in High School.

“It’s available to young men who are rising seniors,” he said. “There’s also a Girl’s State program and we can get anyone interested in touch with those people.”

Deadline to register is April 22nd. To register or get more information, you can contact Savage at (706) 376 – 0554 or [email protected].