releases: https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/boys-girls-state-teaches-valuable-lessons
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/boys-girls-state-teaches-valuable-lessons | Boys, Girls State teaches valuable lessons | 2014-12-28 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | www.mccaskill.senate.gov | legacy | Boys, Girls State teaches valuable lessons Friday, November 28, 2014 By: Bradee Williams This year, nearly 2,000 boys and girls were chosen for Boys State and Girls State, a program for gifted students at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, including 11 students from Smith-Cotton High School. Alec Wilkin, Blake Allee-Lightfoot, Keelly Jones, Ethan Yazell, Steven Bradbury, Bradley Burton and Derek Patton were chosen to participate in Boys State, while Shelbi Davis, Kendall Ott, Rachel Dement and Sarah Hughes were picked for Girls State, which is hosted a week later. The students are chosen based on their leadership, academics and character. The program, which has been run by the American Legion for 75 years, gives students the opportunity to build and run their own government for a week in the hallways of the UCM campus. The goal at the end of week is to win Model City, honoring whichever city has been deemed the best. The students choose classes to attend, select jobs and make laws for their respective cities, learning from first-hand experience how governments are run. They also get the chance to listen to speeches by important Missouri governmental figures, such as Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt. The students, selected by their high school counselors, vote for the leaders of their government chosen out of a pool of previous attendees. These include a governor, a vice chairman, a secretary of state and other members of an official board. The candidates belong to either the Federalist or the Nationalist parties, which are assigned to them before they arrive along with the cities they represent. “I really understand the importance of everyone’s vote. Every individual has something to say, and sometimes it comes down to what each person thinks,” said senior Steven Bradbury, who was in charge of the state fair and was the athletic director for his city. The athletic director organizes the sports teams’ competitions against the 15 other cities in Boys State. There are five sports to choose from, ranging from basketball to Frisbee, which everyone is required to participate in. Bradbury also acknowledged the hard work he put into making his city is something to be proud of. “Sometimes I would work so hard during the day that I would go to sleep at 2 a.m.,” he said. “Then I would get up early the next morning and start all over again. We all just really wanted to be the best.” Shelbi Davis, a senior at Smith-Cotton, was one of the girls chosen to participate in Girls State. She was assigned to be on highway patrol, securing the “highways” against traffic violators. She said, “I learned to work with different types of people, and that’s something that will benefit me in the future.” Sarah Hughes was in the House of Representatives and had the opportunity to go to the capital in Jefferson City and discuss bills and legislation. Blake Allee-Lightfoot and Bradley Burton were other senior participants. At Boys State, Allee-Lightfoot ran his own business, Light-Horn Credit Inc., and was appointed county chairman. “It was a great experience,” he said, “I was glad to be part of such a great group of people.” Burton was the capital police chief and the election judge. He said of the program, “It gives you an outlook on how the real world is and gives you the knowledge you need to succeed for the rest of your life.” Print Email Tweet | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |