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| Updated: 5/29/2012 8:00 am |
Published: 5/28/2012 9:18 pm |
CONWAY, AR - This week, nearly 600 of the state’s smartest young men are at UCA for Boys State. It’s a week long civics lesson.
Boys State will give the members of the Class of 2013 a hands-on experience in good citizenship and civic responsibilities. It’s something some of the young men did not expect to do on their summer vacations.
“I’m not necessarily interested in politics. I just kind of got picked to come, so I came. My family’s into it, but I’m not that big into it,” says Connor Erwin who will be a senior at Arkansas Baptist.
“I really like teaching kids, and math has always been my best subject. I’m not like, this is more like history and that is not where I thrive at,” says Jared Gowen who will be a senior at Beebe High School in the fall.
But, every delegate is in for a heavy dose of politics as the boys form fictional county governments and run for office.
Even if they aren’t interested in going into politics, the teens all say what they learn at Boys State will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
“It’s a logical step to come through here. There’s got to be something going on here that shapes these people to become great leaders,” says Cecil Anderson.
A show of hands revealed most of the boys plan on going to college and many plan on joining the military.
