Students attend leadership camp

HARRISBURG - Three Delaware Valley High School juniors recently attended Keystone Boys State, a week-long leadership seminar and simulation of the government and political system. Andrew McMickle, Eric Neumann, and Nick Troiano were sponsored by the American Legion to attend last week’s annual camp at Shippensburg University. American Legion Boys State programs are educational workshops for high school student leaders. Students selected have the opportunity to gain leadership skills through a variety of activities. The hallmark of Boys State is the hands-on government-practical exercise which spans the city, county and state levels of involvement. Participants take on roles in running a mock city, county or state government. Attendees can be elected to numerous positions within each level of government. While attending the camp, Eric Neumann was elected to the position of District Magistrate on the county level after receiving his city’s nomination. Also on the district level, Nick Troiano was elected to District Attorney. Both went on to sweep the state elections; Neumann was elected Chief Justice and Troiano was elected Attorney General. Troiano was also elected to his city council and served as editor-in-chief for the daily paper. Neumann, on the other hand, went on to win the first level of the Samsung Scholarship of $1,000 and is now in the running to win a $20,000 scholarship at the national level. Keystone Boys State selects two students each year who demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities, both outside and within the camp, to attend Boys Nation, a more prestigious national seminar. Neumann and Troiano were nominated, with ten others. Following the two day selection process, which included an interview, written essays, and two rounds of Lincoln-Douglass debates, both Neumann and Troiano were selected. Each received an additional $1,000 scholarship. Unknown to those involved in the selection, both boys selected attend the same school, something that has never occurred before in Keystone Boys State history. As Pennsylvania “senators”, these two students will be sent on an expenses-paid week-long trip to Washington in late July where they will be given exclusive tours of the Capitol and meet the President in a special White House ceremony. They will hear from a variety of guest speakers and have the chance to pass legislation alongside 96 other boys from across the nation.