Latest news with #BoysState
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Arkansas Boys State wraps up in Little Rock, delegation elects new governor
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The 84th session of Arkansas Boys State concluded with the election of Flynn Capps, a rising senior from Lakeside High School in Hot Springs, as the 2025 Arkansas Boys State governor. Capps, one of 566 delegates from across the state, was chosen by his peers after a week of immersive civic engagement and leadership development, which culminated at the Arkansas State Capitol. 2025 Arkansas Girls State wraps up at Harding University Capps's journey to the governorship began with uncertainty. 'At first, I was scared and didn't really want to talk to anybody,' he admitted. 'Everyone's still in their box and nobody's really come out yet.' But that changed when he took a chance and ran for mayor of his city within the program. Winning that race sparked a deeper passion for Capps. 'At that point I was like, this is fun. I think I want to try it,' Capps said. That try turned into a full campaign for governor. 'We got to the final two, and I was like, this is it,' he said. 'In the end, I got governor, and it was a great experience.' For Capps, the title is secondary to the impact. 'Regardless if I got governor or not, the experience I had with these people is far beyond anything I could've imagined.' The American Legion Arkansas Boys State Program, now in its 84th year, provides a week-long deep dive into the structure and function of state and local government. Delegates form mock cities and counties, campaign for office, pass legislation nd simulate state-level operations—all while forging lasting connections with peers from every corner of Arkansas. Lloyd Jackson, executive director of the program, has seen firsthand how transformative the experience can be. 'They start with us on Sunday night not knowing what they've gotten into. By Thursday, they're asking, 'Do we have to leave?'' Jackson described Boys State as a brotherhood. 'It's a week that will shape and change your life—and Flynn really gets to be the personification of that.' Throughout the week, delegates elected their own city and county officials, state legislators and constitutional officers. Capps emerged from a competitive multi-stage process involving two political parties—the Federalists and the Nationalists—ultimately winning over 51% of the 'statewide' vote. Now, as governor, Capps serves as the face and voice of Boys State, leading ceremonies, signing or vetoing mock legislation and representing the program at American Legion events throughout the year. He will return in 2026 to mentor the next class of delegates and said he is committed to making the most of his opportunity. Colonel Nathaniel Todd appointed to American Legion Arkansas Boys State Commission 'I'm going to try my hardest. I'm going to make sure Boys State is represented correctly. This is a good opportunity for Boys State to come together and learn how they can lead their own state,' he said. 'I want to make Arkansas great. I want to make it a better state in this great country that we have.' Looking ahead, Capps plans to apply what he's learned back home in Hot Springs. 'It's not just upon me but all of us to do better in our own cities—whether that's food drives or any kind of social service to better our cities and Arkansas,' Capps said. From a quiet arrival to a rousing election night victory, Flynn Capps embodies the spirit of Boys State—leadership, courage and a willingness to grow, Jackson said. As he takes on his new role, he leaves behind a simple but powerful reflection: 'I went into Boys State wanting to learn how to be a leader—and I'm going to leave it that way.' For more information about Arkansas Boys State, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Applications open for annual Boys State program
JACKSON'S MILL, (WBOY) — A program of the American Legion designed to teach civic engagement to high school juniors is taking applications for its 86th session this summer. The American Legion Mountaineer Boys State will return to Jackson's Mill from June 8 to June 14. The annual summer program aims to create a government of a 51st state in the image of the West Virginia state government. The program takes the student citizens of Boys State through the political process from party platforms to campaigns to elections, before electing a slate of officials for the new state. White Hall Elementary receives statewide recognition as an Exemplary Practice School In addition to electing city, county, and state officials, Boys State also highlights other careers connected to government, including emergency services, journalism, forensics and more. Boys State Director Robbie Robinson said Boys State doesn't just instill good government practices, it also helps prepare them for life after graduation. 'The boys that are here are junior boys,' said Robinson. 'Next year, they'll be graduating and going out into the workforce or into college or or whatever they've chosen as their career. This could give them a boost.' Teaching civic engagement is important to the volunteer staff, but it's also a way to help make a mark on the state's future as well. 'Some of these boys will go on to be leaders in business, leaders in government, leaders in the military, and these are all things that we're paying it forward to improve our society and to hopefully continue our form of government,' said Assistant Director Matt Sampson. The American Legion Auxiliary also organizes the Rhododendron Girls State every year; it's currently held at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins. You can find more information on how to apply to either Boys State or Girls State on their websites. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Atlantic Festival Expands to New York City this September
The Atlantic will expand its flagship event, The Atlantic Festival, to New York City for the first time this fall, and host a one-day festival event in Washington, D.C., this spring. The Atlantic Festival will take place from Thursday, September 18, to Saturday, September 20, and be anchored at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in downtown Manhattan, with other venues to be announced. Additionally, the event in D.C., On the Future, will be held Tuesday, April 29, at Planet Word. The speaker lineups are to be announced. The expansion to New York City follows 16 years of The Atlantic Festival being held in Washington, D.C., and the growth of the event in scale, ambition, and attendance. The festival is the preeminent live exploration of The Atlantic's journalism, bringing together more than 100 speakers to take part in events that examine the state of business and tech; culture and the arts; politics and democracy; and climate and health––all moderated by Atlantic journalists. The event will also host theatrical and musical performances, book talks with authors and essayists, exclusive film screenings, and podcast tapings. Interviewees at the festival in recent years have included U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jamie Dimon, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Spike Lee, Kerry Washington, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nancy Pelosi, former Senator Mitt Romney, and dozens of sitting Cabinet secretaries, governors, and members of Congress. The festival has screened a number of films and series, including The Vietnam War, Boys State, and Lee, and featured live performances by Anna Deavere Smith, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael R. Jackson, and Chris Thile. Candace Montgomery, executive vice president of AtlanticLive, says of the move: 'We are thrilled to bring The Atlantic Festival to the cultural capital of the world. New York City is home to many Atlantic readers and subscribers and provides the festival with a global stage––giving us the opportunity to bring together fascinating speakers and build upon what has made the festival so successful.' Last year was the third consecutive year that The Atlantic was awarded the top honor of General Excellence by the National Magazine Awards; this year, the magazine is adding two more print issues, returning to monthly publication for the first time in more than two decades. The Atlantic is also hiring a number of writers and editors to grow its coverage of politics, defense, national security, and technology, in addition to health, science, and other areas. The 2025 Atlantic Festival is underwritten by Allstate, Destination DC, Genentech, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation at the Supporting Level. Please reach out with any questions or requests: press@ On the Future: An Atlantic Festival Event April 29, 2025 D.C.'s Planet Word, and virtually The Atlantic Festival September 18–20, 2025 Perelman Performing Arts Center, and virtually Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
The Atlantic Festival Expands to New York City this September
The Atlantic will expand its flagship event, The Atlantic Festival, to New York City for the first time this fall, and host a one-day festival event in Washington, D.C., this spring. The Atlantic Festival will take place from Thursday, September 18, to Saturday, September 20, and be anchored at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in downtown Manhattan, with other venues to be announced. Additionally, the event in D.C., On the Future, will be held Tuesday, April 29, at Planet Word. The speaker lineups are to be announced. The expansion to New York City follows 16 years of The Atlantic Festival being held in Washington, D.C., and the growth of the event in scale, ambition, and attendance. The festival is the preeminent live exploration of The Atlantic 's journalism, bringing together more than 100 speakers to take part in events that examine the state of business and tech; culture and the arts; politics and democracy; and climate and health––all moderated by Atlantic journalists. The event will also host theatrical and musical performances, book talks with authors and essayists, exclusive film screenings, and podcast tapings. Interviewees at the festival in recent years have included U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jamie Dimon, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Spike Lee, Kerry Washington, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nancy Pelosi, former Senator Mitt Romney, and dozens of sitting Cabinet secretaries, governors, and members of Congress. The festival has screened a number of films and series, including The Vietnam War, Boys State, and Lee, and featured live performances by Anna Deavere Smith, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael R. Jackson, and Chris Thile. Candace Montgomery, executive vice president of AtlanticLive, says of the move: 'We are thrilled to bring The Atlantic Festival to the cultural capital of the world. New York City is home to many Atlantic readers and subscribers and provides the festival with a global stage––giving us the opportunity to bring together fascinating speakers and build upon what has made the festival so successful.' Last year was the third consecutive year that The Atlantic was awarded the top honor of General Excellence by the National Magazine Awards; this year, the magazine is adding two more print issues, returning to monthly publication for the first time in more than two decades. The Atlantic is also hiring a number of writers and editors to grow its coverage of politics, defense, national security, and technology, in addition to health, science, and other areas. The 2025 Atlantic Festival is underwritten by Allstate, Destination DC, Genentech, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation at the Supporting Level. Please reach out with any questions or requests: press@
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The '90s Teens Who Exposed a Toxic Dumping Conspiracy in Their Backyard
Middletown asks a fundamental (and highly pertinent) question: How do you make people believe in a conspiracy theory—and take action to address it—when the conspiracy is actually true? For the students of Upstate New York's Middletown High School in the early '90s, the answer was to tirelessly strive to expose the nefarious conduct and dealings that were polluting their community, and to respond to criticisms and dismissals by putting their head down and doing the arduous and noble work demanded of a real democracy. They were a David trying to fell a multi-pronged Goliath, and Boys State and The Mission directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine's documentary—which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—revisits their battle via the countless hours of footage they shot about this crisis. What it delivers is a genuinely uplifting portrait of activism under fire. It's also, movingly, a tale about teachers and the life-altering impact they can have on impressionable youth. Middletown's saga begins with Fred Isseks, a 9th-grade English teacher who, thanks to a project in which he had students photograph their world with cameras, was chosen to find a use for Middletown High's new video equipment. His bright idea was Electronic English, an elective that let kids create whatever they wanted with camcorders. Initially, that meant rap videos and comedy skits. Yet Fred soon turned them on to a different focus: looking into the nearby Wallkill landfill, which select citizens were reporting was leaking toxic waste into their suburban neighborhood. Fred was viewed by his colleagues and the student body as a hippie iconoclast with unconventional methods and a do-gooder environmentalist attitude. Nonetheless, the chance to investigate a potential scandal perpetrated by the big bad powers-that-be appealed to rebellious anti-establishment teens. Before long he had a class of devoted disciples, including Jeff Dutemple, Rachel Raimist, David Birmingham, and Mike Regan, all of whom are seen in Middletown's grainy material from the era and also sit down for candid new interviews with Moss and McBaine. As they make clear, they were innately attracted to the thought of uncovering a mystery in part because it hit so close to home, and because Fred—a lively and encouraging presence who trusted them and gave them responsibility—made them believe they were up to the challenge. The students filmed virtually everything they did with regards to the Wallkill landfill inquiry (as well as their downtime). Consequently, Middletown is blessed with an amazing amount of '90s-era VHS material that brings their quest to life. At Fred's suggestion, they broke into the landfill (Fred and Rachel now admit that it was trespassing) and discovered holes in the ground out of which bubbled nasty green liquid. The area was littered with discarded barrels, medical syringes, and other assorted refuse that didn't seem to belong. Afterwards, they began collaborating with a Middletown resident, Donald Tirrell, whose neighbors had been directly affected by waste seeping into their cellars and yards, emitting a pungent smell (Mike refers to it as the scent of 'dead bodies and decay…New Jersey') and, they claimed, creating a scourge of fatal illnesses. Outraged and motivated, Fred and his students set out to shine a spotlight on this crime, and Middletown depicts them interviewing everyone and anyone associated with the dumping ground, from residents to town officials to bigger media outlets, such as the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper, whose anger at being interrogated about his disinterest in their findings is the first of many instances in which the kids ruffle feathers. Getting anyone to confess to their misdeeds was a Herculean task, but their toil did turn up shocking revelations about the design of the landfill—shamefully, it was built on the aquifer that provides Middletown with drinking water—and about the intricate ties between the waste disposal industry, town and state government, big business, and the Mongelli crime family. Year after year, Fred and his kids attempted to make people see that something nefarious was taking place, and Middletown demonstrates that they eventually made enough noise to elicit the attention of The New York Times and 60 Minutes. As Fred now says, the entire experience was like something out of a bad movie—complete with their very own Deep Throat in the figure of the enigmatic 'Mr. B.'—and he reminisces about it with not simply affection but pride at having stirred these teens to look beyond themselves and seek justice. In an old interview, Fred explains that what began as a journalistic process became a crusade, and Moss and McBaine's documentary underscores his articulate point that the two are often naturally and inextricably linked when the subject is an offense that's doing grave harm to innocent people. Fred 'talked to every student as if they were an equal,' says Jeff, and the effect was, according to Mike, 'transformative.' Middletown celebrates Fred and, by extension, the role teachers play in imbuing pre-adults with notions of civic involvement and duty—and, relatedly, the way in which hands-on engagement often stimulates in ways that classroom lectures and projects don't. There isn't a former student of Fred's featured in Moss and McBaine's doc who doesn't look back fondly at their time scrutinizing the landfill and the cover-up they believe was committed by a host of inter-related parties. Whether grilling officials or acquiring proof via Freedom of Information Act requests, they were given a chance to do something meaningful, and they seized it, ultimately revealing the many tangled connections between politicians, corporations, and the underworld—relationships that not only existed in this particular time and place but remain ever-present in contemporary America. Middletown's saga is a case study in disparate individuals comprehending and embracing the fact that the sole way to get things done, to make things right, and to uphold this country's founding principles is often by taking matters into their own hands. Their somewhat clunky final documentary, 'Garbage, Gangsters, and Greed' may have failed to result in lasting change, yet courtesy of Moss and McBaine's film, their admirable work (and the lessons it imparts) lives on.
