Twenty-five Westerville City Schools juniors were chosen to participate in June as Buckeye Boys State and Buckeye Girls State delegates. Boys State was held at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; Girls State took place at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio.
This year’s Buckeye Boys State participants were: Gavin Cave, Trevor Vestal, Jacob Turner, Harry Passarello and Nicholas Thompson (Westerville North High School); Nicholas DeRose, Alexander Kennedy, Brandt Gebbie, Camron Hubble, Alexander Drexel, and Maxwell James (Westerville Central); and Cole Koehler and Thomas Pappas (Westerville South).
Buckeye Girls State delegates were: Emily Malick and Emily Stowers (Westerville North); Payton McCarthy, Melody Kloepfer, Alexandria Michaelson, Carly Zinnecker, Ilayda Sen, and Kylie Collins (Westerville Central High School); and Grace Bobel, Ayana DaCasta, Grace Bolain and Rachael Boden (Westerville South High School).
Last spring, juniors from Westerville North, Central and South high schools, who were nominated by staff, applied to attend Boys and Girls State. The students were required to answer two essay questions and appear before a panel from Westerville American Legion Post 171 and Auxiliary members, along with community leaders, to be quizzed about government and current events. This effort was organized Dr. William G. Golden, for American Legion Post 171.
The Westerville City Schools Board of Education will honor this year’s delegates on September 24. Since its inception in 1935, the Boys and Girls State Programs of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary have helped to educate high school students about politics, current events and the workings of government through a week of hands-on activities.