Published: July 02, 2009 08:16 pm      

Edmond student heads to Boys Nation

EDMOND — Sixteen-year-old Lucas Swisher will be one of 98 high school student representatives from throughout the U.S. chosen to attend the American Legion Boys Nation later this month.

A senior at Edmond Santa Fe High School, Swisher said, “I am very interested in politics and one day I hope to be a senator.”

He is one of two delegates selected from Oklahoma based on leadership skills, academic record and activity at American Legion Boys State.

“From Boys State I brought back an appreciation for the military that I didn’t have before,” Swisher said, “and I also brought back an appreciation for community service that I hadn’t experienced before.”

Swisher said he is a pretty busy person.

Even with days filled with studies, he is a member of the varsity tennis team, the academic team and is a section leader for the orchestra, where he plays the cello.

He is a volunteer at St. Anthony Hospital but still finds time to give back to the community, “because it is very important,” Swisher said.

“It is a big honor to be selected a delegate for Boys Nation,” said Edmond’s American Legion Post 111 Commander James “Jay” Benton. “There were 650 boys at Boys State and out of those 650, through a process of elimination, only two are selected to go to Boys Nation. Only the top ones are selected to go.”

After being selected, Swisher said, “One thing they told me was the fact that I wasn’t afraid to stand up in front of a group of people and disagree with them.”

From July 17-25 Swisher will join the other delegates at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., for the week-long program. During this time the senators will be introduced to the structure and function of the federal government while combining lectures and forums with visitations to federal agencies, institutions, memorials and historical spots in and around Washington, D.C.

While in the nation’s capital Swisher said he is really looking forward to meeting Sen. Jim Inhofe and President Barack Obama.

“I am really looking forward to seeing the World War II Veterans Memorial and the Smithsonian,” Swisher said.

The boys gain experience of the political process through the organization of party conventions, the introduction and debate on bills and resolutions and the election of an American Legion Boys Nation president and vice president, Benton said.

“I love working with Boys State because seeing so many great Edmond boys,” said Richard Prawdzienski, member of American Legion Post 111. “Seeing those boys counter some of the negative statements about today’s youth, our Post members who are involved in the interview process all agree Edmond Boys Staters will be successful and good citizens.”

Since 1939 Oklahoma has had three boys elected president and two more elected vice president.

Each American Legion Boys Nation delegate represents his home state as a “senator.” The “senators” caucus at the beginning of the session and organize into committees and conduct hearings on bills, allowing delegates to learn the proper methods and regulations followed by the U.S. Senate.

In addition, federal legislators and representatives of national distinction, including former President George W. Bush, participate in the activities at the American Legion Boys Nation program. Former graduates of the program include journalist Tom Brokaw and former President Bill Clinton.