Legion Honors Boys and Girls State Attendees

WAITSBURG – Waitsburg's American Legion Auxiliary hosted a Boys and Girls State Honor Night dessert at Town Hall on March 2. Students who attended the 2014 week-long mock government events shared their experiences and encouraged upcoming seniors to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in government firsthand. The American Legion Post #35 and Auxiliary sponsor Prescott and Waitsburg students to the events each year.

Emma Philbrook, the only girl to attend the 2014 American Legion Auxiliary Evergreen Girls State at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. last June, shared two personal "top fives" from her experience.

Emma's Top Five Best Things About Girls State:

5) It's a resume booster

4) Scholarships

3) Inside jokes

2) Awesome people

1) Life changing

Emma's Top Tips for Surviving Girls State:

5) Don't be scared off even if you're not particularly savvy about the political process – you'll catch on quickly and won't be alone

4) Bug your parents for care packages (teams must use what they have on hand to make models of their cities and Rice Krispy Treats, Goldfish crackers and Teddy Grahams sent from home helped her team take first place).

3) Make good use of your free time – you won't have much of it.

2) Collaborate

1) Be abnormal (especially if you hope to stand out while running for office).

Philbrook said that the experience truly was life-changing for her and helped her know that she would be fine handling herself in "the real world." She was elected Attorney General at Girls State and won the state level Samsung Legion Scholarship.

No Waitsburg students attended the 2014 American Legion Boys State event held at the Warm Beach Conference Center in Stanwood, Wash. last year, but Matthew Warren was sponsored by Dayton's American Legion and shared about his experience. Warren said he ran for city commissioner, mayor and governor before winning his position as senator (after running unopposed). He said one of the big lessons for him was, "Don't worry about losing, there is always tomorrow and something else you can run for."

Warren was impressed by the quality of the students he worked alongside and enjoyed being among such a diverse group. "There were guys there that didn't know what a combine was," said Warren, who sat on the ag committee in the senate. "I built an amazing network and it was a great opportunity to see what the rest of the state is like," he added. Warren was the Boys State Samsung Legion Scholarship recipient for Washington.

Waitsburg's American Legion Post #35 and Auxiliary annually sponsor students from Waitsburg and Prescott. Auxiliary member B.A. Keve said the Legion and Auxiliary each sponsor one student but if more are interested other groups such as the Prescott and Waitsburg Lions have stepped in to cover those costs. The program is open to students who will complete their junior year this June.

Girls State will be held June 14-20 this year and Boys State will take place June 21-27. Students may get applications from teachers Roseann Groom in Waitsburg and Susan DeRuwe in Prescott. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible because Girls State interviews will take place Monday, March 9. Parents or students with questions should direct them to Roseann Groom rgroom@waitsburgsd.org or B.A. Keve ikbakeve@charter.net.