Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Otto M. Walker American Legion Post 49 has selected Gannett Fulford to attend Florida's American Legion Boys State this summer. Fulford, a junior at Aucilla Christian Academy (ACA), was interviewed by the Post's selection committee on Feb. 27 to determine if he would be a good fit for representing our community at the event.
At Boys State, around 535 students from around Florida will have the opportunity to learn first-hand how the political process works. Their expenses for the week-long experience are paid for by their sponsoring local American Legion Post.
Post 49's selection committee consisted of Commander Ed Gifford (U.S. Army), Kenneth Thie (U.S. Navy) and Tony Minichiello (U.S. Air Force). They examined Gannett's nomination and conducted an interview to determine if he qualified by having the academic record, effective leadership skills and solid oratorical ability that would prepare him to fully participate in and benefit from the Boys State program.
In his interview, Gannett gave spoke proudly of his academic strength, as shown by getting high scores on the SAT and having only A's on his report card, ever. He talked about being a leader when he played Warriors football and when he started a chess club at ACA. Gannett also is currently participating in the Junior Leadership program offered by the Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. Gannett's interest in learning about state government goes back at least as far as his eighth grade year, when he was selected to be a Page during that year's session of the Florida Legislature. He is looking forward to Boys State being a similar but more intensive experience.
“I'm interested in learning more about government because government is a part of our everyday lives, both as Americans and just as people of the world,” said Gannett in the interview. “There's government everywhere. As an American, our government is very unique, especially compared to governments in Europe and Asia. It's a lot more focused on the people. As a citizen of America, I want to do my best to make wise and sound decisions that would best support my community, both locally and nationally speaking. I believe that by learning more about government I would be able to understand it and make better decisions that would help create the best country for myself and for my children and my grandchildren and the generations to come.”
At the conclusion of Gannett's interview, the committee finalized their decision to sponsor him for Boys State.
“I'm impressed with how you carry yourself,” said Commander Gifford to Gannett. “You seem to have good skills for talking to people. You've done a lot, and we are very impressed with your academics.”
Gannett has since completed his registration for Boys State 2023 and, come June 18, he'll head to Tallahassee, settle into a dorm at Florida State University and spend a week at the Capitol, immersing himself in an experiential study of government.
Those who attend Boys State engage in role-playing leadership positions in government in order to experience the structure and operations of city, county and state governance. This is accomplished by organizing the students into a mythical city, county and state. From there they choose their own officials in accordance with regular election procedures. Then they learn the duties of the various governmental officers, and they introduce and argue their own bills in a legislature. Instruction is presented on the law and court system, parliamentary procedure and Florida political history. The entire program is non-partisan and takes place without reference to any existing political party.
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