What is Boys’ State? According to their website, “Massachusetts Boys State is designed to teach democratic values, improve knowledge of government, and encourage citizen involvement through an intensive week-long program that immerses students in grassroots democracy, but in reality, it’s so much more.”
This past summer, 6 Oakmont students had the opportunity to spend a week at Stonehill College in North Easton to learn what Boys State was all about.
Move-in day was hectic. Campers were organized into towns and cities. In the dorms, everyone from your town or city lived in the same hallway. The rooms were nice and everything was clean. It was strange living in a dorm for the first time, especially with the addition of having a roommate, but everyone there was chill.
Every day, we would start with an early wake-up. Discipline and punctuality were very important during our time there. After lining up at a predetermined time, we would walk to the dining hall to have a huge buffet-style breakfast. There were so many different food options, as well as coffee, juices, yogurt, lots of fruit, and breakfast pastries. From there, the day consisted of a variety of educational and recreational activities.
One of the most common activities was our municipal meeting, where we would discuss our town’s designated problems as well as participate in gen-ed assignments in which we would discuss controversial topics and come up with our town’s official stance on the issues.
We also had the option to choose between 3 elective courses: business, law, and economics, where guest speakers would come in to talk about their respective practices and give us advice. I personally attended the law electives, and they were very informative and super interesting.
During rec periods, towns and cities would compete against each other in various sports like football, soccer, basketball, softball, and quizbowl. At the end of the week, there were playoffs, and the winners were crowned champions of their respective sports. Quizbowl Mark became famous at the camp due to his proficiency at quizbowl, which was a trivia-style gameshow. The 6’6” academic weapon went undefeated until the final, where the quizbowl cheating scandal of 25’ occurred.
If you got in trouble and were cited for a “crime,” you could choose to attend court during rec to fight the charges against you. If you lost, they would hand out some unusual punishments like singing at lunch in front of everyone or performing a dance at dinner.
Every camper at the beginning of the week was assigned a political party, federalist or nationalist.
During the week, we held a party caucus to discuss our respective party agendas and vote on candidates for the “statewide” office elections. The statewide roles included Auditor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Lt. Governor, Governor, and the most coveted office, U.S. Senator. The two winners of the election for the Senate position are then invited to Boys’ Nation in Washington, D.C., and get to meet the president.
At the end of the week, both girls and boys states combined in the gym for closing ceremonies, and then there was a combined formal dance.
Throughout the experience, we learned so much about how our local and state government works, we learned how to do our own laundry and live in dorms, and we learned the importance of good politics and how to run for an office.
The best part of the trip, however, was the people. Meeting new kids from all over the state with so many different personalities and perspectives was really eye-opening and inspiring. The debates we held in our municipalities were always thoughtful and respectful because everyone in attendance was respectful, intelligent, and had great critical thinking skills. Everyone at Boys’ State was there for a reason, and it created a unique, collaborative, and intellectual environment that was priceless to experience.
To anyone considering applying to go to Boys’ State, I highly recommend it. It is arguably the most fun I have had throughout all of high school, and I learned so much in the short time that I spent there.
