Macks Creek students Addison Ratliff and Sean Green recently returned from St. Charles, MO where they each spent the week at Lindenwood University participating in the American Legion’s Auxiliary Missouri Girls State (ALA MGS) and American Legion Missouri Boys State (MBS). Both are youth leadership programs that give high school juniors the opportunity to participate in a mock government system and learn about the American system of politics. Macks Creek School is grateful to the Zack Wheat American Legion Post 624 in Camdenton for providing scholarships for two
MC students to attend each year!
Girls and Boys State both have a rich tradition in Missouri. According to missourigirlsstate.org/, ALA MGS hosted its first session in 1940 and with the exceptions of not meeting during WWII and during the COVID Pandemic, has met every year since the program's inception. ALA MGS began hosting the event at Lindenwood University in 2022. At that same time, the group began co-hosting in partnership with Boys State. Last year 675 citizens completed the 81st session. Boys State was instituted in 1938 and like ALA MGS has been in session every summer with exceptions for war-time and the pandemic. To learn more about ALA MGS, please click here. To learn more about MBS, please click here.
Addison Ratliff enjoyed her experience at ALA MGS. During her week Addie was a member of the highway patrol. By being a trooper, she was able to write tickets, direct traffic, and do night patrol. Also, she learned about different aspects of law enforcement. Addie also ran for and won the position of being a city councilwoman. However, she had to resign from this position once she became a part of the patrol. Before attending, Addie was anxious about who she might have as a roommate in the Lindenwood dorms. During the week she and her roommate had a great time getting to know each other. Addie shared, “I really connected with my roommate. We learned that even though we both had vastly different beliefs politically, we both had many things in common. We became great friends during our late night conversations in our dorm.” Addie also shares that her week at ALA MGS was one of the best weeks of her life, and she hopes future juniors apply to be a part of this amazing program.
Addie had the opportunity to meet Governor Mike Parson who was the keynote speaker.
Addie is with the rest of the Girls State Highway Patrol.
Addie and four other members of the Girls State Highway Patrol took a photo together.
Addie is with all of the girls who comprised her city and lived together in the same dormitory for the week.
Sean Green also had a great time at Boys State. During his week Sean started right away with working on getting Doniphan city set up before the first official city wide meeting. Sean had hopes of joining the highway patrol for his city, but ended up fulfilling another role: Fire Marshall. As the Doniphan City Fire Marshall, he joined the fire chief to inspect the city for any violations as well as charge fines for anyone violating city fire codes. Sean said that his city came together quickly, but they also started to go bankrupt just as quickly. His city got creative to earn more revenue by operating a casino without a business license and suing almost every other city or county in Missouri Boys State. His city had a record for the most lawsuits filed and won by any city in MBS history. When he was not acting as the fire marshall, being a juror in trials, finding reasons to sue other cities and counties, or attending city meetings, he attended sessions to learn more about law enforcement and public safety. Sean said his favorite memories come from their final night when their counselor did not assign a time for lights out, busting other illegal casinos, campaigning for his party's governor candidate, winning model city, and creating friendships with people he never would have met without this experience.
On Saturday, Sean found his “home town” for the week in Doniphan City
Doniphan City group photo. These are all the boys Sean lived with on the same floor in Pfermmer Hall. Sean is right below the wooden pole in this photo.
Sean had a lot of fun at the MBS and ALA MGS State Fair. He even won a few prizes.
Celebrating Doniphan City’s win for the Harry S. Truman Model City Award at the closing ceremonies on Saturday. The Harry S. Truman Model City Award is given to one city each MBS session that exemplifies the best attributes of civic engagement.
Sean enjoyed his week at MBS, but was ready to take a nap and was asleep before his mom got to I-70.
Addie and Sean were able to briefly catch up during joint sessions of Girls and Boys State.
Macks Creek School is proud of Addison and Sean for participating in this program. They both worked hard to make the most of the experience. Well done Addie and Sean! We are looking forward to next summer to see which juniors will attend ALA MGS and MBS 2025!
#MCPirates