Lessons learned at Boys State

Learning how the government and court system works were just a couple of the highlights for one student.

Green River High School junior Alexander Shafe recently traveled to Douglas to attend Wyoming Boys State, which is sponsored by the American Legion. Shafe's trip was paid for by the American Legion Tom Whitmore Post 28.

"This wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the legion," Shafe said.

According to the website http://www.wyoboysstate.com, Boys State takes place annually in June and is a chance for high-school juniors from across the state to participate in a week's worth of activities to gain knowledge of their state and its governmental structure.

"Delegates learn first-hand how government works, experiencing what it takes to create and enact laws. The week emphasizes leadership, civic engagement and patriotism," the website states.

During Boys State, the participants are divided into cities and counties. They work together to make their cities and counties better by running for elected offices, including mayor, city council members, commissioners, auditors, assessors and sheriffs. Participants also had the opportunity to run for bigger offices such as senator and representative in the Wyoming Legislature and other state offices.

Much like the democratic system the United States has in place, two parties were developed: Frontier and Pioneer. Shafe was in the Pioneer party.

Shafe said he didn't think the process through and just decided to run for everything, which didn't work out well.

"I ran for everything and didn't get elected to anything," Shafe said.

Eventually, Shafe ran for the county assessor position and won in a landslide when he was unopposed. Even though he was unopposed, Shafe still had to give a speech as to why he'd be the best candidate for the job. He said he did something he normally wouldn't have done, by making a joke about being the only choice. He felt his position wasn't taken as seriously as others because both parties just wanted to get as many people in more prominent positions as possible.

He learned that an assessors role is to assess the value of all properties within the assessor's jurisdiction so a value can be determined for taxes.

With the elections over, participants had the opportunity to run for a higher office and discover how the legislative system works or move to the judicial side to learn about court.

"It was good to see how the legal system works," Shafe said. "I chose court because I want to be a lawyer."

Shafe and the other participants learned proper court formalities, legal terms and how cases make their way through the system. They also had the chance to role play in the court room.

Other experiences

Shafe learned and participated in many other activities while at Boys State, including visiting the state Capitol in Cheyenne and other buildings, listening to many guest speakers, touring of a Blackhawk helicopter, learning how a flag is properly raised, lowered and retired and meeting United States Sen. Mike Enzi, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and Gov. Mark Gordon.

Shafe said it was clear to him that both Enzi and Barrasso have Wyoming's interests at heart and he was impressed with Gordon.

While at the program, Shafe also learned a valuable life lesson.

"If you take away WiFi, people get a lot more interactive together," he said.

He also learned the experience he had a Boys State isn't something he would get anywhere else and is encouraging other juniors to apply for the program next year. Only 45 boys were at Boys State this year and in the past they've had up to 100. Shafe said not only does it look good on a resume, but it was a great learning experience.

"It gives you a leg up going into college or getting a job."