6/10/2009 6:00:00 PM EDITORIAL/Developing young leaders
Every summer since 1939, the Mississippi American Legion sponsors the leadership program Boys State to provide rising high school seniors a week of civics and government training.
Neshoba County has always been well represented at Boys State, thanks to the efforts of the local American Legion chapter.
In 2007, for example, Joseph Fitzhugh, a Neshoba Central High School senior, was elected Secretary of Agriculture.
Students network and learn about government, which includes a trip to the state Capitol where they conduct mock sessions of the House of Representatives and Senate and participate in a moot court proceeding in the Mississippi Supreme Court chambers.
They elect all statewide officers among their ranks and hear from actual statewide elected officials themselves. They even have a "fourth estate," with students writing and publishing a newspaper, The Boys Stater.
Probing questions from the Boys State participants generated political news.
Gov. Haley Barbour's answer that he had considered running for President but will not pursue it until 2011 made national headlines.
Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant described his ambitions to run for governor like those of a quarterback who wants to play in the Super Bowl.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann told students he would not be a candidate for governor.
Attorney General Jim Hood said he would be a candidate for something in 2011, but wasn't sure what yet.
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Billy Hewes, himself a graduate of Boys State, shared with participants his plans to run for lieutenant governor.
Boys State hosted a debate between state Democrat Party Chairman Jamie Franks and Republican Chairman Brad White, which combined with the other news rivaled the political speaking at The Neshoba County Fair.
Boys State has produced great leaders for Mississippi: Sen. Roger Wicker, former Sen. Trent Lott, Secretary of the Navy and former Gov. Ray Mabus, former Attorney General Mike Moore and our newspaper colleague Wyatt Emmerich, who served both as Mississippi Boys State Governor and Boys Nation President.
Mississippi's Boys State is unique around the country in two ways: participants and not the counselors elect the delegates to Boys Nation; and every year the program hosts a college information day. At the college information day, representatives from Mississippi colleges and universities, ROTC programs, and the nation's military academies meet with these young people.
Many Boys Staters go on to earn military academy appointments and major scholarships.
Boys State continues to provide meaningful leadership development and training for our young people.
The American Legion continues the service of the veterans it represents by sponsoring this program every year.
We encourage Neshoba County students to consider applying and participating in this worthwhile leadership program. For more information, go to: www.msboysstate.com.
