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The 13 students from six Hays County high schools who represented San Marcos American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Post and Unit 144 at Boys and Girls State sessions in Austin and Seguin this summer will share their experiences during a program scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12 at the American Legion Hall.
The students' parents, school officials, sponsors and the general public are invited to attend the program.
Boys State was held June 5-11 at the University of Texas at Austin while Bluebonnet Girls State was June 13-19 at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.
Both are government-in-action programs for students who have completed their junior year in high school.
The three young men who attended Boys State included Berean Auden of Wimberley, a student at the Katherine Anne Porter High School; San Marcos High School Student Jorge A. Nandin; and Sam R. Lawrence, a student at Wimberley High School.
Their attendance was made possible by sponsorships contributed by the Wimberley Lions Club and CenturyLink.
The 10 young women attending Bluebonnet Girls State, their schools and sponsors include the following:
Attending from San Marcos High School were Victoria Almanzar, sponsored by Frost Bank; Amber Brown, sponsored by CenturyLink; and Brittany Howard, sponsored by San Marcos Attorney Tom Garner.
Brooke Noble, sponsored by Texas Lehigh Cement, and Hannah Helene Thompson, sponsored by Ingram Ready Mix, represented Jack C. Hays High School. Lehman High School delegates were Abigail Martin, sponsored by Girls State alumni Grace Baen, Tess Allen and alumni parents Dr. and Mrs. Fred Day, and Jessica Cantu, sponsored by Seton Medical Center Hays, Girls State alumnus Mariel Sweeney and Legion family members Jim and Lois Stuart. Chaley Esensee from Katherine Anne Porter High School in Wimberley was sponsored by the Wimberley Lions Club.
Two Dripping Springs High School students, Michelle Pan, sponsored by the Dripping Springs Breakfast Lions Club, and Rachel Shifflet, sponsored by Texas Lehigh Cement, participated.
Both Bluebonnet Girls State and Boys State place participants in a mythical 51st state where, for a week, they organize their own city, county and state governments.
They elect their own officials. They learn the duties of the various city, county and state offices. They introduce and debate their own bills in a mock legislature.
They visit to the State Capitol where they are given the opportunity to sight-see and meet state officials.
The purpose of both Boys State and Girls State is to educate the students in the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship.
For more information about the program, contact American Legion Auxiliary President Pat Murdock at 353-1943 or Unit 144's Girls State Chair Margie Villalpando at 353-1383.
