WAHPETON – Several area youth were among 82 participants taking part in the American Legion Boys State on the North Dakota State College of Science campus June 14-19.

Participating were Reino Swartwout, Minot; Shaun Randall, Berthold; Gabriel Magallon, Douglas; Brendan Berntson, Aaron Fuller and Owen Trautman, Garrison; and Layne Anderson, Velva.

Cayle Corey of Grand Forks was elected governor of North Dakota Boys State.

The event brings together outstanding young men between their junior and senior years in high school. Selected from schools across North Dakota, these delegates come to the NDSCS campus for a week of activities focusing on leadership and government.

At North Dakota Boys State, delegates engage in hands-on learning activities, including city and county government functions, disaster simulation exercises and the production of daily broadcast media created and edited by delegates. This “learning by doing” process is complemented by speeches and debates from visiting dignitaries, providing delegates with a comprehensive understanding of governmental operations.

Esteemed visitors to the program included North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong; Lisa Fair McEvers, chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court; U.S. Representative Julie Fedorchak; Joel Heitkamp, talk radio host; Joe Wiegand, political consultant and Theodore Roosevelt impersonator; and Breanna Koval, director of Wilkin County Emergency Management.