@@ Boys and Girls State

[formerlyak]

Did anyone here go to Girls State or have a kid who went to Boys or Girls State? DS just called to let me know he was chosen as a delegate to represent his school at Boys and Girls State California this June. It’s coed for the first time.

He’s very excited. I’m curious what to expect and if anyone with experience has any advice or words of wisdom on how to make the most of the experience.

I was a finalist at my high school in the 90s but was not selected.

[erbear]

I did. It was forever ago though, but I remember it being really fun. Congrats to your son!

[cmeon]

That's exciting, I'm so happy for him! I hope he has a great time!

[chickadee77]

I went to Badger Girls State (WI) a million years ago. It started out pretty awful, but once my roomie was elected coroner and I staged my own "death" to get out of the endless parliamentary procedure meetings, I had a blast, lol!

Seriously, it was a fun time, and a pretty big honor 😀

ETA: Our Girls State was a vastly different experience even from Boys' State - GS was very serious, calisthenics every morning, tons of meetings (held in Madison, WI). BS had cookie factory tours and like, one meeting per day (held in Ripon, WI - home of Keebler). So I imagine it varies widely between states, too.

[devonpow]

I only know about this from the big documentary on it a few years ago. It was …interesting. Not my personal cup of tea but I also only saw the one documentary (it was in Texas - can’t recall if it’s all one thing or different states do different things? I’m in MA and I don’t know about it here but maybe my high school doesn’t participate)

[formerlyak]

Feb 15, 2023 18:46:19 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I only know about this from the big documentary on it a few years ago. It was …interesting. Not my personal cup of tea but I also only saw the one documentary (it was in Texas - can’t recall if it’s all one thing or different states do different things? I’m in MA and I don’t know about it here but maybe my high school doesn’t participate)

Every state has their own and then a few kids from each state go to nation in DC. I’ve heard each state is very different.

Apparently one night at the California one they do a college fair. That’s good because we haven’t really been to one yet and his college list is based on just schools he knows.

Also there are apparently 6 delegates from his school - 3 girls and 3 boys. He’s really good friends with one of the other boys. And two of the other kids he has been in school with since first grade.

[nothingcontroversial]

I went to Keystone Girls State in Pennsylvania. Two of my sisters also went later. I think that perhaps all three of us were selected when we were each high school juniors (rising seniors) because not many people at our high school applied to go, and we had a super small high school, so the competition wasn't that fierce. That's my speculation on why three kids from the same family all went to it.  It was neat. It was the same summer that I got selected to go to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts a Month later, and I was honestly more excited about the Governor's School.

The year that I went, the American Legion Ladies Auxillary in my hometown sent two girls from my high school because "we were both such strong candidates." The other girl from my high school who went was the Pennsylvania State Dairy Princess that year (yes, that's a thing) as well as our county's Dairy Princess (she lived on a farm) and she eventually became our high school's salutatorian.

In my opinion, Keystone Girls State was super strict. However, it was held in Central Pennsylvania (Shippensburg Univeristy), which is kinda red, and was red when I was a kid. I spent my early childhood in rural Central PA, so I already knew that.  There were some girls with really progressive views, and the progressive kids and the conservative kids got in some "interesting" debates.

I remember that the venue where we had it (Shippensburg University) had a pool, and we had an hour or so of pool time every day. Shippensburg is pretty close to our state capitol, Harrisburg. The year that my youngest sister went, they got to go to Harrisburg and tour the capitol building and meet some state legislators. 

One of the girls on my floor was the losing candidate for Girls State Governor, and she was upset about losing the election. (What did they call the floors? A Town? A City? A Community? I forget.)

The night of our election celebration and banquet was the same night as the O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase. People left the banquet festivities to go watch the Chase on television. 

Last year, I was listening to The Dollop podcast, and it was on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Dave Anthony mentioned that Walker went to Badger Boys State.  Dave Anthony called Boys State a "knockoff Model UN" or something, but maybe that's because he just wanted to rip on Walker.

[arehopsveggies]

I went. I don’t remember a ton. It wasn’t really my thing because I’m pretty introverted and don’t like hanging out with strangers

[wise_rita]

I went, and returned for many years as a counselor.

Making it coed is possibly the worst idea I've ever heard in my life. That is going to be a nightmare to control!

That aside, I think it is a really excellent way to learn about government and support any young person who wants to go.

[lilac05]

I went in Illinois many many years ago. It was an intense week. I learned a ton & had a lot of fun. I’m guessing some of the things I remember most are no longer a thing thanks to cell phones. We weren’t allowed to make phone calls except for emergencies, and we weren’t allowed to talk to boys. (We called them “trees” for some reason…weird, but I remember it felt silly/fun, not awful.) Both rules were set, in theory, to empower us to be strong, independent, focused young women. I also remember it was pretty formal. I don’t remember much else, but I still keep in touch with a friend I made there…I think we were roommates.

I have positive feelings from it…and Can still sing the theme song. Ha! I’d be really interested in seeing how it has changed over the years. (But I agree that co-Ed sounds like a mess.)

[somersault72]

Congrats to him! My friend was selected to Buckeye Girls State back in the day and some of my son's friends were selected last year (he's not old enough yet but I would love for him to be chosen). It's a big honor here and it sounds pretty fun. It is not co-ed here as far as I've heard.

[penguingrrl]

I’ve never heard of this, but it sounds like an amazing experience reading other posters memories!

[wise_rita]

Did every other state do a graduation ceremony where everybody wore white? We sang some songs by the glow of [fake] candlelight and it looked really cool.

[simpsongal]

I went to Governor's School in NJ, I think that was similar? But I think they also had the Boy/Girl state thing too....
[ETA - it was coed and NBD in that regard]

[nothingcontroversial]

Feb 16, 2023 10:30:20 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I went to Governor's School in NJ, I think that was similar? But I think they also had the Boy/Girl state thing too....

The Governors schools in Pennsylvania got completely eliminated during a state budget crisis about a decade or so ago. They later brought back the science one, but they didn't bring back the arts one.  So, I was lucky to get this opportunity before the funding for it got axed from the state budget.

When I was in high school, Keystone Girls State was funded by a scholarship from our community's chapter of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. A few months after I returned from Keystone Girls State, I attended a meeting of the Ladies Auxiliary, which was held in the basement of my town's American Legion headquarters. I gave a short presentation about my experience there. (The American Legion in my town had its own building. The ground floor was a social club with a bar. The basement had a meeting room. The Ladies Auxiliary had their meetings in this basement meeting room. I am under the impression that each meeting consisted of a dinner, then organizational business, and then a presentation of some sort. I was that particular meeting's presentation. The other girl who had attended Keystone Girls State had also been invited to be part of the presentation, but she was busy doing State Dairy Princess duties that evening.)


I was extremely privileged to have both opportunities provided to me at no cost to my family, which was good, because i was the oldest of five kids and my dad was a high school teacher. 

[pixy0stix]

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

[nothingcontroversial]

Feb 16, 2023 11:42:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

For my small hometown in Pennsylvania, my town's chapter of the American Legion sponsored a scholarship for one or two high school boys to attend Keystone Boys State, and my town's chapter of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary sponsored a scholarship for one or two high school girls to attend Keystone Girls State. This was in the mid 90's, so things might have changed since then.

You had to be high school junior to apply. It was held for a week in the summer between the junior and senior year of high school. I don't know anything about Keystone Boys State. However, in order to apply, I had to write an essay. I think that the teachers at my high school recommended applicants to the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary so that they could decide who to select for this.

It was held for one week at a non-flagship state university in Central Pennsylvania, near the state capitol. We spent a week doing activities about civics and government. Every floor in the dorm was called a "city" or "community" or something. We were some sort of municipality with the other people on our floor. We elected people to "political offices."

Everyone was assigned to a fake political party. Each fake political party had a primary and nominated people to run for Girls State Office, including governor. The person who won the office of Keystone Girls State Governor got to go to Girls Nation. (I think that Girls Nation was held in Washington, D.C. It was made up of the winner of every Girls State Governor from every state that did this.)

There were a lot of fake elections. These fake elections were preceded by political debates. 

We had a morning assembly each morning where we had to do something with the American flag and sing patriotic songs. This was the 1990's, so maybe this has changed since then.

Years later, when one of my younger sisters went to Keystone Girls State, they took a field trip to the PA state capitol in Harrisburg, since it is really close to the venue where Girls State was held. They toured the capitol building and met some state office holders. They got their photo taken in the state capitol building with the state politicians. 

Edit: Also, I remember that on the final night, we had an "inauguration" banquet to celebrate everyone who won an election for a Girls State office. We were told to bring a dress for the banquet. Just about everyone brought their prom or formal dress for this. So, it was a room full of high school girls wearing their prom dresses. 

Edit: Ours is called Keystone Girls State because Pennsylvania's official state nickname is The Keystone State. The one that Scott Walker of Wisconsin went to is called Badger Boys State because Wisconsin is the Badger State.

[lilac05]

Feb 16, 2023 11:42:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

Here’s the site for Illinois’ program:
www.alaigs.org/index.html

My experience was very similar to nothingcontroversial’s.

[formerlyak]

Feb 16, 2023 15:50:10 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

Feb 16, 2023 11:42:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

Here’s the site for Illinois’ program:
www.alaigs.org/index.html

My experience was very similar to nothingcontroversial ’s.

I think Illinois was the original one from what I have read.

DS has learned that he can take the "bar" and try to become a state supreme court justice. He said he's taking the "bar". 

I am also guessing how progressive or conservative it is depends on the state. 

For California, they live in the Sacramento State University dorms for the week.

I've received congratulatory emails from my kid's teachers, so that's nice.

And it is fully paid for by the local American Legion Chapter.

There is some video orientation for parents in April. I suppose I will learn more then.

[pixy0stix]

Ok, since it's tied to the American Legion that makes sense why I've never heard of it. As far as I know there wasn't a chapter where I grew up. I did a search, and the closest local chapter now is 75ish miles away in a larger town. If there was an opportunity for this, I wouldn't have ever heard about it.

[aurora]

I went. Mostly I remember having to fight to be allowed to go for a run with another attendee (not interfering with planned activities; the counselors didn't think it was appropriate for us to exercise even though it was built into the Boys State schedule). I also remember a *lot* of gossip about sex. I think we also did some official activities about community, politics, government, but don't remember much about those.

It sounds like it varies a lot from state to state!

[nothingcontroversial]

Again, I went in the mid 90's so things might be a lot different now. However, I remember that we were told to bring professional looking clothes, because we were expected to dress like professionals during all of the assemblies when we did political activities. It was June, so that meant that we all just pretty much wore dresses or skirts. I guess that you could wear dress slacks if you wanted, but it was June, so I just wore dresses all week. 

(The dress code didn't apply during our "free time" when everyone was outside playing volleyball or at the pool.)

I remember that they were strict about the dress code. I know that everyone has different opinions about dress codes. However, I think that the idea was to get us introduced to the idea of having some sort of professional job in a formal office. After college, I ended up working in an office job in financial services, so I don't see the harm of having had to abide by a dress code for a few hours every day for one week when I was a high school kid. 

[wise_rita]

Feb 16, 2023 11:42:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

Government camp I'd boil it down to.

Running political campaigns and creating party platforms.

I came imagine how this stays civilized today.

[Bad Dingo]

I'd never heard of this before and my gut reaction was negative (I should probably work on that) so I looked it up for my state. A picture from a previous year shows a diverse group of maybe 25-30 young women and the explanation of what they do sounds interesting. I'd be far less inclined to be interested in a red state.

I think I'll pass the info on to my DD who will be a junior next year. It'd be worth it to put her in a position to earn scholarships for college!

[lilac05]

Feb 17, 2023 8:26:00 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Feb 16, 2023 11:42:13 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I've literally never heard of this. Anyone else from NE want to chime in?

What is it?

Government camp I'd boil it down to.

Running political campaigns and creating party platforms.

I came imagine how this stays civilized today.

If I remember correctly, our debates weren’t on hot button issues that were relevant to society at the time. They were more fictional/hypothetical topics. I wish I could remember more about it.

[tamarindy]

I went in NE and I really loved it. I made a ton of friends from other small towns and even got a boyfriend out of it (for a little while anyway, maybe 3-4 months). We were allowed to mingle with the Boys State and, from what a remember, there was a dance. It was a great experience overall and I didn’t want to leave when the week was over.

[nothingcontroversial]

Feb 17, 2023 10:07:04 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

Feb 17, 2023 8:26:00 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Government camp I'd boil it down to.

Running political campaigns and creating party platforms.

I came imagine how this stays civilized today.

If I remember correctly, our debates weren’t on hot button issues that were relevant to society at the time. They were more fictional/hypothetical topics. I wish I could remember more about it.

Our debates weren't driven by the adults / moderators / RA's / whatever you call them. The kids made up their own debates when I went. I remember that there was a debate about whether taxpayer money should be used to pay for former gang members to have gang-affiliated tattoos to be removed. (One of the girls running for fake office made up the topic herself and introduced it as a "resolution" at a meeting.)

During another debate, one of the kids said, "Nobody should get a free lunch in this life," and then one of the other kids said, "That's really offensive. My family qualifies for free school lunches," and then the first kid said, "No, no, I meant it as a colloquialism."

We were all randomly assigned to one of two fake political parties, regardless of personal beliefs, so its not like we had any time in the span of five days or whatever to form actual party platforms for either of the fake political parties. A lot of it was basically the logistics of how elections work.

A lot of the "campaign speeches" for the people running for political offices were listening to girls regurgitate their high school resumes.  For instance, "You should vote for me for Girls State Governor because I studied in Europe when I was a sophomore, so I have an international perspective on things," or "You should vote for me for Girls State Attorney General because I was captain of my high school basketball team, so I have leadership skills." That sort of thing.

A lot of the conversations during our free time were about what colleges everyone intended on applying to, and stuff about people's boyfriends or whether their high school marching band was planning a trip to Disney or whatever. 

My youngest sister is A LOT younger than me, so she went to Keystone Girls State less than a decade ago, and she told me that it was a lot of this same thing when she went as well - people running for fake political office on the strength of their high school resumes.