A group of Buckeye Valley seniors travelled across the state over the summer to participate in mock government exercises as part of the American Legion Buckeye Boys State and Buckeye Girls State.

Seniors Joshua Cox, Cord Lehman and Kaden Bradford-Rayburn took part in the weeklong Boys State event at Miami University in Oxford, and Kate Vonderwell and Sydney Osborn took part in the counterpart event, Girls State, at Bowling Green State University.

The students explained that during the event, participants were split into two fake parties, where they campaigned for and were elected to different offices starting from city and county officials all the way up to state legislators, Ohio Supreme Court justices and even governor of Ohio.

“It’s set up exactly like the Ohio government, just in a more condensed setting,” Cox explained. “It’s a matter of finding what position you want to do.”

The students said there were 630 boys at Boys State and 450 girls at Girls State, and Cox said the participants were excited to be part of the program.

“With Boys State, everyone that’s there wants to be there,” Cox said. “Everyone deserves to be there. It made the whole experience better. Most people are actually working to accomplish something. Being able to work towards and being able to do something that matters is really fulfilling.”

Cox served as a senator during the event and said he wrote and voted on bills, which he said was “pretty awesome.”

“You get out what you put into it,” Cox said. “If you actually put in the work and try to do something, it’s pretty fulfilling. When you get something through, it’s very fulfilling.”

Lehman served as a state representative during the camp and said the bills passed by students varied and included a bill to make it easier for teachers to get recertified and other changes to the way Ohio’s schools are funded. He added there were many joke bills as well, including making Ohio State University “the number one football team in the world.”

Vonderwell served as a city auditor during Girls State and worked to balance the budget for her city.

“I filled out forms to help with payroll and managed the city’s money and made sure we weren’t going to be in debt,” Vonderwell said. “We had to keep record of where all the money is going in case the county decided to audit us.”

Vonderwell said she learned to seek out opportunities during the program.

“I didn’t think I’d run (for anything), but I took the opportunity of being city auditor and I found that really rewarding,” she said.

Bradford-Rayburn served as a city council clerk during Boys State and said he enjoyed keeping records and authorizing ordinances.

Bradford-Rayburn, Cox, and Lehman said something they learned is that the students who got elected to the highest positions didn’t always get there through qualifications or experience.

“Somehow our county engineer talking about ‘Clash of Clans’ got him elected,” Bradford-Rayburn said with a laugh. “Our vice governor said some of the craziest things I’ve ever heard.”

Cox added that “a lot of the most charismatic people are the most aggravating,” and he learned “you have to keep trying” during the camp.

“The best people in the world are not in the highest positions,” Cox said. “A lot of the senators I worked with were pretty frustrating, they were just there for fun and were killing bills that were good ideas and passing bills that were wastes of time. … It’s a lot of time and patience, negotiating what you need to get through.”

Osborn served as a city school board member during Girls State and said she enjoyed hearing other perspectives.

“It’s a lot about who you talk to,” Osborn said. “You have to hear everyone out and discuss. … It was really fun to see everyone’s different ideas and act like you’re an adult and it’s a real city.”

Lehman said he’s thankful to the American Legion for sending the students to the universities for the camps and said he gained a new perspective during Boys State.

“I learned that the labels you’re given in school don’t define who you are,” Lehman said. “I have ADD and that has made me struggle academically, so when I got to Boys State I thought, ‘I don’t belong here, these are all 4.0 students.’ As I was talking to everyone I realized we’re all equals, it’s just numbers. I realized I wasn’t defined by the labels I was given.”

Lehman said he made good friends during the event and said he still keeps in touch with them.

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.