Boys State Trouble
- Thread starter seb.g.b
- Start date
Two years ago, my sons' school did not know about or deal with Boys State. We didn't have a post in our town but the neighborhood towns did so we reached out to the regional contact and he put us in contact with our local folks. My son reached out to them to express an interest in attending. It was late in the game but after talking to my son, the contact found a sponsor to cover his participation. My second son attended Boys State this past summer. This time around, the school was familiar with the process and the local post had reached out to them to inquire if they had anyone they would like to recommend. My suggestion for those who truly would like this experience is to let your high school, counselors, teachers and local posts know.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
- Messages
- 6,843
Agree with above.
Five years ago, my DS encountered the same situation at his high school. He presented the concept, got the info for the guidance counselor and the school held a competition for the student to be nominated.
My DS made the top 5 but was not chosen to go.
That's okay, he still became an Army Officer.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 15,994
So, as someone said earlier, call the District Office or call the National Office and explain the situation. Either they can straighten out local officials or they can steer you in the right direction. You can have results, or you can have excuses. What do you have to lose by calling?
Heatherg21
USNA '24 Mom BGO Bacon Lover Dog Lover
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2019
- Messages
- 5,622
I really like the idea of taking the initiative to bring this program to your school counseling/guidance office. There is a boat load of info (see what I did there?) online regarding American Legion and their programs for teens. Not just boys/girls state and nation but also their speech contests and scholarships. Last year our son earned 4 awards and $1300 in scholarship money for the oratorical contest. Also made countless connections via the Legion and members of the community in the process.
Maybe you can jump start this by presenting an informative packet or power point to the guidance office. Yes, it may benefit you in the short run but if you pull it off well, you would be facilitating future students the opportunity.
Maybe you can jump start this by presenting an informative packet or power point to the guidance office. Yes, it may benefit you in the short run but if you pull it off well, you would be facilitating future students the opportunity.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,822
I think I have a little bit of expertise in this arena.
I am a Trustee of my State's Boy's State as well as the coordinator for my County and finally, I am a staffer when we actually DO Boy's State in June.
A few notes: We have one of the largest programs in the country - over 900 delegates and we get frequent staff "riders" from other Boy's State programs to try to capture how we do it.
My county has 21 Legion posts and sends about 80 boys each year. Not all posts participate but most do and we also sponsor a few from the County itself (that I handle). Our state considers a high school to be involved/participating if they have sent a boy within the last five years and at this time, I can tell you that every high school in my county is covered even ones that do not have nearby Legion Posts. This includes both public and private schools. The sticky point over the past few years seems to be kids who live in our county and attend private school in another county or vice versa but we have handled that as well. One thing we also have here is the ability for "Self Sponsor" where kids from schools without Legion Support can still attend on their parent's dime which this year will be $275 for the week.
Now, to the OP's question: The Boys State "year" has not really begun in our state yet. I can't say that your state is the same but it is likely to be similar. In the next couple of months, Posts will reserve slots at Boys State and then begin to reach out to "their" High Schools. In my experience, February/March are the big months when things start moving and our state website starts collecting completed applications from posts in April but the bulk come in May. We have a wide variety of large/small/rural/etc schools in this county but almost all of them cooperate with the program most years. I personally handle a few schools that would otherwise drop through the cracks as well as provide assistance to other schools/Legion posts.
When I find a guidance counselor who is unaware of the program, I go to the Director of Guidance and they are in most cases aware of the program and willing to assist. If you try to reach out through your local post, first of all, don't just talk to the person who answers the phone who very well could be a bartender or maintenance person and totally unaware of the program. This is a question for the Boys State coordinator but since they might be hard to identify, reach out to the Post Commander who can often be identified from a post website, google search or social media. If you do call the post and get the random phone picker-upper, ask for the Post Commander and get in touch with them. If you are still unsuccessful, do the same contact attempt to the County or District commander who can usually be identified by the same means that I indicated for the Post Commander.
For example, a few of our county posts have websites (a third to a half are on facebook) but all the posts and the current commanders are listed on our County Legion website as well as our County Leadership and there is contact info for these people. We also have a state legion website which identifies the County Leaders for each County. Our Boys State Website is probably the best resource in our case:
www.aljbs.org as it includes a lot of information about applying, lists all of the county coordinators (with contact info), lists every high school in the state and if they have participated in the past 5 yrs and much more.
I am a Trustee of my State's Boy's State as well as the coordinator for my County and finally, I am a staffer when we actually DO Boy's State in June.
A few notes: We have one of the largest programs in the country - over 900 delegates and we get frequent staff "riders" from other Boy's State programs to try to capture how we do it.
My county has 21 Legion posts and sends about 80 boys each year. Not all posts participate but most do and we also sponsor a few from the County itself (that I handle). Our state considers a high school to be involved/participating if they have sent a boy within the last five years and at this time, I can tell you that every high school in my county is covered even ones that do not have nearby Legion Posts. This includes both public and private schools. The sticky point over the past few years seems to be kids who live in our county and attend private school in another county or vice versa but we have handled that as well. One thing we also have here is the ability for "Self Sponsor" where kids from schools without Legion Support can still attend on their parent's dime which this year will be $275 for the week.
Now, to the OP's question: The Boys State "year" has not really begun in our state yet. I can't say that your state is the same but it is likely to be similar. In the next couple of months, Posts will reserve slots at Boys State and then begin to reach out to "their" High Schools. In my experience, February/March are the big months when things start moving and our state website starts collecting completed applications from posts in April but the bulk come in May. We have a wide variety of large/small/rural/etc schools in this county but almost all of them cooperate with the program most years. I personally handle a few schools that would otherwise drop through the cracks as well as provide assistance to other schools/Legion posts.
When I find a guidance counselor who is unaware of the program, I go to the Director of Guidance and they are in most cases aware of the program and willing to assist. If you try to reach out through your local post, first of all, don't just talk to the person who answers the phone who very well could be a bartender or maintenance person and totally unaware of the program. This is a question for the Boys State coordinator but since they might be hard to identify, reach out to the Post Commander who can often be identified from a post website, google search or social media. If you do call the post and get the random phone picker-upper, ask for the Post Commander and get in touch with them. If you are still unsuccessful, do the same contact attempt to the County or District commander who can usually be identified by the same means that I indicated for the Post Commander.
For example, a few of our county posts have websites (a third to a half are on facebook) but all the posts and the current commanders are listed on our County Legion website as well as our County Leadership and there is contact info for these people. We also have a state legion website which identifies the County Leaders for each County. Our Boys State Website is probably the best resource in our case:
www.aljbs.org as it includes a lot of information about applying, lists all of the county coordinators (with contact info), lists every high school in the state and if they have participated in the past 5 yrs and much more.
Wonderful posts from all! Great ideas!
My DDs had to set it up at both their schools. ALA is not wealthy and could not sponsor them, but happy to get them on the bus. They could not self sponsor, nor anything clearly parental like a check from DH Attorney at Law, HCopter, Trustee, or HCopter & Partner, CPAs. They got a local nursing home to sponsor them and make a presentation. Cost was $540 each; ALA did give them spending money of $50 each, and they interviewed and were selected in January by the ALA. While the forms took longer, it was the ALA's choice to conduct early interviews and selection.
My DDs had to set it up at both their schools. ALA is not wealthy and could not sponsor them, but happy to get them on the bus. They could not self sponsor, nor anything clearly parental like a check from DH Attorney at Law, HCopter, Trustee, or HCopter & Partner, CPAs. They got a local nursing home to sponsor them and make a presentation. Cost was $540 each; ALA did give them spending money of $50 each, and they interviewed and were selected in January by the ALA. While the forms took longer, it was the ALA's choice to conduct early interviews and selection.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,822
$540 is a lot but our $275 is one of the cheapest and is the cheapest large program. Our foundation throws in a nice chunk of change that goes to things like sports shirts (by county) and gifts to speaker, etc. The university that we hold it at wants our business as it is at a light time in their calendar (after the semester ends but before NJ schools let out so no sports camps or other summer revenue builders. Adding staff plus delegates, we are well over 1000 bodies and our contract with them has per person discounts when we get bigger - over 1000 delegates so we are trying. Last year we charged posts (or parents) $250 per kid and our expenses were $275 so we had to raise the cost this year.
Our delegates are also able to get 3 college credits for the week from our host university but that is additional $'s and the posts do not pay that.
Parent of 4
Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Messages
- 197
DS had this same problem, our local American Legion Post had not sent anyone in a long long time and every time he called he got the run around. Eventually he went there in person and politely refused to leave until he found a sympathetic ear. Together they located the area coordinator and found the information that was needed. They did end up sponsoring him and i believe had it not been for Boys State he would not be at USMA today.
Attempted to. Reached out to my counselors and they had also never heard of it. I'm trying to actually do that however Im stuck at the roadblock where they are not very responsive. Just called again a few hours ago and got the same response that "someone will call me back regarding it soon" as the past 3 months I've tried.
Will do so for sure.
A1Janitor
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2018
- Messages
- 6,505
Get a brochure of what Boys State is, meet with the county American Legion officers and get letters of recommendations, and drop it off to the Superintendent. Ask to be put on the agenda of next Board of Ed. Keep the guidance counselors up to date.
I bet they adopt the program.
Tom Nicholas
Cogito Ergo Sum
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2018
- Messages
- 88
@Dadx4 's advice is good. I'm the public affairs officer for Penndel Post 436 in Pennsylvania and just starting our outreach process to local schools for Boy's and Girl's State sessions this coming summer. The application should be available on your state's American Legion website.
There are many Legion (Boy's State) and Legion Auxiliary (Girl's State) posts in our area and there is significant overlap with respect to school districts. Some post receive no applications and some receive many. Therefore, feel free to apply to several and you are under no obligation to tell them you did. Don't ask, just apply. The decision is made at the post level. If more than one were to select you, you could respectfully decline after the first and let the others know you've been selected.
This is from the Pennsylvania Legion website as the second step:
Deliver a hard copy of your application to your sponsoring American Legion Post. The nearest post to you can be found on the American Legion website (www.legion.org/posts). You may need to contact more than one Post Commander or Adjutant to find a post that is able to sponsor you.
There are many Legion (Boy's State) and Legion Auxiliary (Girl's State) posts in our area and there is significant overlap with respect to school districts. Some post receive no applications and some receive many. Therefore, feel free to apply to several and you are under no obligation to tell them you did. Don't ask, just apply. The decision is made at the post level. If more than one were to select you, you could respectfully decline after the first and let the others know you've been selected.
This is from the Pennsylvania Legion website as the second step:
Deliver a hard copy of your application to your sponsoring American Legion Post. The nearest post to you can be found on the American Legion website (www.legion.org/posts). You may need to contact more than one Post Commander or Adjutant to find a post that is able to sponsor you.
scooter2u
Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2019
- Messages
- 47
I have a personal anecdote about the value of attending boys state/nation. A childhood friend of mine got a scholarship to Harvard. I was shocked. I had no idea he was smart enough to get that. It turned out that he'd attended Boys Nation and ended up becoming the President for that year. A high honor. He later said that after that, he could get into any college he wanted. He went on to become a successful TV and movie actor. Someone you would recognize. I'm going to push my younger son toward that when the time comes. 
We also had to educate our school on Boys/Girls State. It was an exercise in tenacity for our DD. She also made a presentation to our local Rotary Club and they paid for Girls State plus gave her an additional scholarship for college. One of the members even gave her a summer job. It was a win-win-win. Plus she had a great experience at Girls State. Terrific program.