Priscilla Laubscher, Commander of Naperville American Legion Post No. 43, has announced that 12 local young women will participate this June in Girls State and 10 local young men will participate in Boys State. Boys State and Girls State are week-long programs that provide future leaders with vital hands-on experiences with both the theory and practice of government.
Premier Boys State will be held June 9 – 15 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Illini Girls State will be held from June 17 – 23, also at Eastern Illinois University. Naperville American Legion Post No. 43 will pay the enrollment costs and transportation costs for the 22 participants. All participants will be high school seniors in the Fall.
“Once again, American Legion members Lauren Evans and Terrence Jelenik have done superb jobs organizing and coordinating our Post’s sponsorship of the participation of local students in Illinois’ Girls State and Boys State,” said Laubscher, a former Senior Naval Officer. “As Veterans, we’re proud to continue to serve this great Nation of ours in this very important way.”
Young men attending
Neuqua Valley High School—Kevin Wei, Andrew McKissick, Justin Klein, Mark Gaughan
Naperville North High School—Sean VanDril, Daniel Sims, Austin Ray
Benet Academy—Christian Yon, Keegan Madden, Peter Butler
Young ladies attending
Neuqua Valley High School—Kimberly Liv, Linda Jiangrand, Christie Jeung, Akhila Gopal, Halay Evans
Benet Academy—Courtney Oei, Maura Dore
Naperville Central High School—Claire Halffield
Home-schooled—Rianka Macwan
Waubonsie Valley High School—Marianne Duran
St. Francis High School—Samantha Hilger
Metea Valley High School—Anna Ding
Students who would like to have information about next year’s (2013’s) Girls State are invited to visit www.ilala.org/igs/index.html or to contact Lauren Evans at 630-904-7578. Students who would like to have information about next year’s (2013’s) Boys State are invited to visit www.illinoisboysstate.org or to contact Terrence Jelinek at 630-357-5366.
The American Legion, with 2,400,000 members, is the Nation’s largest Veterans service organization. The American Legion has offices in Washington, DC.
Naperville’s American Legion Post No. 43, www.naperlegion.org, has been actively serving Veterans, Youth and the Community since 1920. The Post invites all Veterans and active-duty Military Personnel to attend the Post’s meetings, which are held on the first Thursday evening of every month.
