MOULTRIE, Ga. – Three Colquitt County High School Junior ROTC cadets experienced a transformative summer camp leading up to their senior year thanks to American Legion Post 324.

Cadet Clayton Guess attended the Georgia Boys State summer camp at Gordon College in Barnesville from June 12 to June 18, while Cadets Ayleen Ramirez and Cristina Sebastian-Antonio went to the Georgia Girls State summer camp at Valdosta State University from June 12 to 17.

Georgia Boys and Girls State are comprehensive one-week courses in the state and local government provided by the Department of Georgia American Legion Auxiliary.

According to the Georgia Boys State website, delegates have the opportunity to learn the political process by organizing a mythical 51st state. Each level of government is run by delegates who are elected to serve. Instruction includes the law and court system, parliamentary procedure and Georgia political history.

Between both camps, there are approximately 400 to 500 student attendees.

“[Georgia Boys and Girls State] gives the students the ability to go to a place, a safe place, to learn about themselves and to engage with other students from across the state,” said the Rev. Dr. Richard Wright, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church and incoming post commander for Post 324. 

He said the students get to learn about the state executive branch and how that branch operates.

Interested students must have a good grade point average, an efficient work ethic and a clean behavior record at school.

“The students represent the high school and our city when they go to the Girls and Boys State,” Wright added.

Ramirez already had political aspirations. She said she wants to become a senator when she’s older.

“When I knew it was a government camp, I was really excited,” she said in an interview Monday. “I learned a lot from different people.” 

Although Ramirez knew the basics of government and how it worked, she didn’t know all the details of government that the camp taught her.

Sebastian-Antonio also enjoyed learning from other students.

“Different people see different things in different ways, so their perspective was very different depending on where they lived in the state, whether that was the northern or southern area,” she said. “It was very different, but just coming together and having one common interest which was the government in general was very cool.”

Guess said the experience was fun and better than he expected. He thought it would be awkward since several students from across the state were attending.

He said he became more comfortable when they played football.

“They split us up between Federalists and Nationalists, and we defended our cities through football,” he explained. 

Ramirez and Sebastian-Antonio also had the opportunity to meet state Sen. Kim Jackson from District 41.

“She represented a variety of people,” Sebastian-Antonio shared. “She wanted to be somebody that was not very common to see in the Senate being represented, and that’s what she stood for.”

Ramirez said meeting Jackson was very cool, and it was an eye-opening experience. She learned that there is more women representation in the industry.

“We thought that there’s not a lot of girls [in the government] because we think it’s so male-dominated,” Ramirez said. “She said, ‘I’m one of the women that talks, and it’s hard to work in a like male-dominated industry.”

Sebastian-Antonio explained, “Most of the time the males there think that the women are assistants. When they walk into the room and realize they’re actually sitting there, a lot of people get surprised. It was really cool to see that part.”

Guess also met Dr. Kirk A. Nooks, the current president of Gordon State College. He was able to learn more about other people and their experiences.

Students also have the opportunity to write and submit legislation. They operate like the Georgia State Assembly, where they can debate and vote on these bills.

“They have to write a bill and present it to the Congress, and then the Congress votes on whether to pass it or not,” said Lt. Col. Jason Perdew, the senior Marine Corps ROTC instructor at Colquitt County high. “They get to experience the whole process.”

“It was interesting to debate. We not only stated our opinions, but we also answered logical questions,” Ramirez shared. 

The cadets were able to review bills about current world topics like gun control. They considered bills on making road signs bilingual and making schools have required fine art classes. 

Several students ran campaigns for the camp elections. 

Sebastian-Antonio was a House representative and the supervisor for recreational parks, Ramirez was the state district attorney and a senator and Guess was the chief of police and a House representative. 

The cadets enjoyed exploring college life while networking and creating friendships with students across the state. 

They also received pins and certificates of distinguished achievement on the last day of camp.

The American Legion Post 324 will be starting next year’s application process from January to March. They will first contact guidance counselors, Perdew and other teachers at CCHS about possible juniors who fulfill the program requirements.

They would like to sponsor up to two boys and two girls next year. Attendees do not have to be JROTC cadets. 

Wright said they would also like to meet the students for a face-to-face interview. 

It costs approximately $250 to $400 for Post 324 to sponsor each student. They conduct fundraisers throughout the year, and they also accept donations.

“We tried to raise those funds so that we made sure that we do this because this is important,” Wright shared. “These young people are going to be our leaders one day. We hope they become good, productive citizens and leaders within our community. 

The American Legion Post 324 is open to any military veteran that has served in the U.S. military. They meet at the Masonic Lodge on Fifth Avenue on the third Tuesday of each month. Fellowship time starts at 6 p.m. and the regular meeting is at 7 p.m.