Student attends Boys State

A Jennings High School (JHS) student is working to make the world a better place by learning the inner workings of local and state government.

Arlon McCrea, a junior at JHS, recently attended Session 76 of the American Legion Louisiana Boys State Camp.

The camp, which took place from June 26 to July 2, is a week-long program intended to mold attendees into better men with better futures.

Attendees of the camp are tasked with creating a functional government on the city, parish and state level. Upon arrival, they receive their city and parish placement through which almost all activity throughout the week is structured. From here, they pursue elected offices and are given duties associated with the offices they achieve.

Don Hall, of American Legion Frank Thibodeaux Post 520, said he selected McCrea for his high gradepoint average and exemplary list of extracurricular activities.

“I was coming home from school and this man was sitting in my yard and he hands me this packet but I just handed it to my mom and disregarded it, said McCrea. “My mom did some research and told me I really needed to go to this because this was a very prestigious camp and I’d be missing out a very big opportunity if I didn’t go. She told me this would look really good on my resume and would help me get into the college of my choice.”

McCrea said when he arrived, he was nervous, but the camp consulates put he and others at ease at camp orientation.

“I get there and we don’t know anybody besides people that we came with. I was pretty nervous and tense thinking it would be like that all week but the ice-breakers they did helped me get to know people and get more comfortable,” he said. “You have a chance to learn names, and it’s a social thing. I got to know people from cities I had never heard of.”

McCrea said the camp consulates gave them free space to figure much of the camp out at their own pace.

“They had empathy for us and knew how we work. They’re only a bit older than us, so they felt for us. They kind of acted like our older siblings who tried to make it fun for us because they’ve also been selected to attend the camp as well,” he said.

The camp attendees were split into branches of government on the city and parish level as well as the judicial, executive and legislative levels.

“You go with your state of government and you have debates and stuff. I was with the school board, so we talked about school board-related topics, like whether we should have armed guards in school,” he said. “We got together with our parishes in a certain room every day and talked. We would compete in specific parties too like nationalists and federalists. If you were federalists, you ran for that party’s officials and you did the same for nationalists. They run against each other to compete to become to state officials which was the big prize for the camp.”

McCrea said he and fellow attendees made speeches and participated in fun, team-building activities.

“We learned to cooperate with others. One night was sports night. We played dodgeball as teams against other parishes which was basically a team-building exercise which I think was fun and worked well,” he said.

McCrea said he his camp experience was great. He said the camp’s structure was really helpful.

“They didn’t exactly regulate what we did, but instead just gave us advice after letting us know our responsibilities,” he said. “In the end, there were no behavior issues and the fact that they gave us a choice is probably what made everyone have better judgment.”

This camp made us more aware of our surroundings and improved our sense of community, McCrea said.

“I’ve grown in the sense that I learned you can’t just go about life without a plan. In order to go to the next place in life, whatever that might be, you have to try to make an impact on the world, it doesn’t matter how small,” he said.

McCrea said he plans to go to LA Tech in Ruston to major in civil engineering after he graduates high school. He said this camp has taught him about making adult decisions in life and will benefit him when he leaves for college.

“You’re going to act a certain way but you have to be aware that that’s just the kid in you trying to appeal to others and please them. This camp just helped me