For further information contact:

Chad Plenge

Public Relations

pr@badgerboysstate.com

 

9th Student Leaders Convene to Establish New State

(Portage, WI)…Badger Boys State Badger Boys State will convene its 77th
session on June 9, 2018 in Ripon, Wisconsin. The annual week-long program
of The American Legion Department of Wisconsin will bring together hundreds of
high school seniors from across Wisconsin to create a 51st state known as Badger
Boys State.

“Badger Boys State is a week that changes a lifetimefor nearly 900 high school students every year. Badger Boys State is a remarkable youth leadership program designed to teach leadership and educate students in the duties, privileges, rights, and responsibilities of American citizenship,” said Robert Shappell, Badger Boys State Director. “The program’s fundamental principle is youth learn best by actively participating in the process. The eight day program begins with the students, or citizens as they are known at Badger Boys State, separated into cities and counties. Throughout the week, the citizens campaign for a variety of offices to establish their own city, county and state government,” stated Shappell.

Badger Boys State participants will develop their own party platforms, pass local ordinances and utilize a state patrol and judicial system to enforce the laws and constitution of the 51st state. Additionally, citizens choose from a series of schools of instruction such as: law, peace officer, leadership, public finance, public speaking, parliamentary procedure, and public persuasion, among others. Badger Boys State citizens also have an opportunity to participate in a variety of team sports that compete throughout the week, a band and choir, and write for the Badger Bugle Citizen, the official newspaper of Badger Boys State.

“Since the program’s inception in 1939, Badger Boys State has had a positive impact on the lives of almost 66,000 students. Badger Boys State graduates are prominent today as responsible leaders in public office, business, and the professions,” said Shappell.

Planned highlights of this year’s session include guest speakers, Governor Scott Walker,
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh BradleyCharles Wiley of the National Press Corps, among others. Badger Boy State citizens are selected by local high schools throughout the state based on their qualifications as good students, exhibiting strong leadership skills and in the top third of their class.

Previous Badger Boys State graduates are prominent today as leaders and include Governor Scott Walker (1985), President and Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft Brad Smith (1975), Governor Scott McCallum (1967), Congressman Thomas Petri, jazz singer Al Jarreau, actor Daniel J. Travanti (all 3 in 1957), and former Governor Martin Schreiber (1956).

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