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Two Morrison seniors attend Illinois Premier Boys State – Shaw Local
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Two Morrison seniors attend Illinois Premier Boys State – Shaw Local

MORRISON – Two Morrison High School students participated in Illinois Premier Boys State, held June 8-14 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Gavin Streets Wood and Blaine Williams, who will be seniors this upcoming school year, were selected to attend and were sponsored by American Legion Post 328 in Morrison.

American Legion Illinois Premier Boys State was founded in Illinois in 1935 by three Illinois Legionnaires, Hayes Kennedy, Harold Card and Matthew Murphy, who organized the first Boys State at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. It is a participatory program in which students become part of the functioning of city, county and state governments, according to its website.

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 for by a sponsoring Legion post, a local business or other community organization, according to the website. At Boys State, participants learn the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship. Fictitious political parties are created and citizens are randomly assigned to one.

Boys State activities include various levels of legislative sessions, political party caucuses, four election cycles, general assemblies, band concerts, law enforcement presentations and recreational programs, according to the website.

Streets Wood said he decided to go to Boys State for a chance to win a scholarship. Her plan is to attend Sauk Valley Community College and work toward a degree in cybersecurity, possibly at the University of Illinois.

Williams said he’s not sure what he wants to study after high school, but the Boys State experience has him thinking about politics.

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