Watchung Hills Students Participate in Leadership Program

Seventeen members of ’s Class of 2013 recently participated in what has been a successful youth citizenship experience for over seven decades: Boys State and Girls State.

Among some 975 young men from across the state who attended Boys State at Rider University, Lawrenceville, from June 17th to June 22nd were Watchung Hills Regional High School juniors Jacob Strock, Bryce Malinchak, Emmanuel Rousakis , and Felix Kung of Long Hill; Ryan Vrindten, Trevor Adriaanse, Nathan Boschen and Matt Schenk of Warren; Owen Whitley, Michael Ricciardi , Mitchell Woo, and Noah Monetti of Watchung, and Matt Piekarski of Green Brook. Aaron J. Markey of Scotch Plains was also part of the delegation.

The Hills delegation to Boys State was underwritten by the Warren Township Lions, the Rotary of Warren-Watchung, the BPOE Elks 2252, the N.J. Boys State Foundation, and parents.

During the same time slot, about 400 young women who are ready to enter their senior year in September, came together for Girls State at Georgian Court University in Lakewood. Watchung Hills attendees were: Lindsey Wagner of Long Hill; Clare Stomber and Neha Agrawal of Watchung; and Setu Shah of Green Brook; Rachel Axt of Basking Ridge was also a member of this delegation,their stay was underwritten by the Lions of Warren Township, the Green Brook Board of Education, BPOE Elks 2252, and the Rotary of Warren-Watchung.

Across the nation and over the decades, the Boys and Girls State leadership-citizenship events have been offering motivated youth the opportunity to put into actual practice their leadership skills, know-how and knowledge of civic affairs in a realistic, hands-on fashion. Representatives from the Watchung Hills Regional High School District, all “hand picked” for their interest and service-oriented activities, joined the hundreds of other students from across New Jersey who attended the respective events.

The plan for these citizenship practicums for motivated young people in every state originated with the American Legion in 1936 with the inception of Boys State. (Girls State, sponsored by the Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion, was a later development.) Both events strive to teach young people the duties, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship in an authentic fashion. The first step in the process is to select motivated students who are finishing their junior year, young persons who have maintained a B average, who have demonstrated leadership ability, who have been active in clubs, student government, athletics, community and volunteer organizations, and who are able to communicate effectively. The basic idea has remained the same over the decades. Bring them together, from all parts of the state to a college campus which has been transformed into a mythical 51st state, and then teach them to use the process by which they will govern themselves. It is a teaching experience that does not use traditional methods such as textbooks, lectures, quizzes, but, instead, depends on hands-on participation in the democratic process. 

After the youths’ applications were screened by Watchung Hills administrators earlier in the year, the candidates were interviewed and then selected by representatives of the primary sponsoring organizations. The essentials of the Boys/Girls State events have remained virtually the same over the years. The participants work at learning civics by actually putting into practice the fundamentals of government and democracy they’ve been learning over the years in their social studies courses. As they arrive, each youth is assigned to one of two fictional political parties, and to a city in an imaginary state. Politicking begins at once and increases in intensity as the week progresses. Delegates organize into city and county governments. They write party platforms, they caucus, campaign for elected positions, rally for their candidates at the various levels; they make and debate legislation, and more. They hear noted speakers—such as this year’s U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, Rep. Lance Leonard, Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.

Some delegates will be elected to office. Those not elected will fill appointive positions, where there is plenty of opportunity to experience political workings at many levels. Yet, getting elected is not the major goal of these citizenship training events: the process of getting there is, and it is a process which seeks to reinforce the principles of American government and which helps motivate young persons to become alert, informed and active citizens in their home communities.

They all get practice speaking before groups All get to know young people from other parts of the state and from diverse backgrounds. Some may even be elected to represent New Jersey on a higher level, such as Boys Nation, a national convention which takes place in Washington, D.C. during the summer, and some will even run for political office in their mature years. (Several presidents and several presidential candidates are among this number.)

Boys State participant Ryan Vrindten, who was elected to the (fictional) State Assembly by his party, was also appointed a Associate Supreme Court Justice, as well as municipal court judge and city fire chief of proverbial Lincoln City; learned how much effort goes into passing a bill, as he had a bill of his making (on law enforcement) passed. Vrindten will use what he has learned in the school’s Model U.N. Club.

Neha Agrawal also “learned a lot, especially about how government on the local level works.” She’d never known about freeholders before, for example, and was herself elected to that post, as well as to the council. She felt that school social studies classes taught a lot about national, and to some extent, statewide government but not that much about local politics. She’s president of the Model U.N. chapter at Hills and plans to use a lot of the skills she learned at Girls State in the coming year.

A special event during the closing exercises of the 2012 Boys State was the recognition of Warren Township resident “Ev” Eaton, who was instrumental in bringing Hills youth into the Boys State fold 45 years ago. He recalls going door-to-door in the Hills sending district area, promoting the idea of Boys State and asking for contributions for scholarships to Boys State. His devotion to the concept has never wavered over these four-plus decades, and that loyalty was recognized and rewarded before the entire assemblage as well as his offspring, whose surprise appearance brought tears to his eyes. 

As in past years, this year’s contingent left the experience vastly enriched, alert, motivated young citizens, not only of their school communities, but of their neighborhoods as well.