Texas Boys State News

Statewide Elected Office Governor      G. Smith  (N) Lieutenant Governor      J. Cascino (N) Attorney General      J. Delgado (F) Commissioner of Land Office      C. McKay (F) Comptroller of Public Accounts      S. Saxe (N) Commissioner of Agriculture      C. Bradford (F) Railroad Commissioner      H. Longcrier  (F)      K. Preston  (N)      G. Allen (F) Chief Justice, Supreme Court      D. Thompson (F) Associate Justice, Supreme Court      R. Madden Jr. (F)      S. Sinak (N)      J. Dixon Jr. (N)      J. Collins (N)      D. Imhoff (F)      R. Landsaw (F)      B. Owen (F)      N. Gates (F) Pres. Judge, Ct. of Criminal Appeals      M. Mayo (N) Assoc. Justice, Ct. of Criminal Appeals      Z. Smalt (F)      V. Torres (F)      D. Mayes (F)      D. Forestier (F)      J. Miller (N)      E. Gonzalez (F)      J. Palacios (N)      D. Childress Jr.  (N) District Level Brown District District Judge      C. Post (F) District Attorney

Among the group of American Legion representatives that we encounter at Boys State stands a strong woman with ever deserved right to be here. I'm sure many delegates have already approached her to buy a t-shirt or a graduation cord during lunch hours. Wednesday afternoon I had the honor of interviewing this marvelous woman and getting to know her on a personal level. This is Mrs. Gerry Hince As I began my interview with Mrs. Hince we wasted no time getting right into personal questions such as why she would rather help at Boys State instead of Girls State. Considering that she is a woman at a camp for young men, I was more that excited to hear her reasoning on the topic. She began with informing me of how she had been associated with the organization for five years in Virginia because of her sons and then moving to Texas and being involved for about another great five years. “Tough love” is the phrase she used when speaking out on the issue of how the young mean learn by doing he

Today the Statesmen of Texas Boys State marched to capital to visit the various offices of elected officials and to tour the facility. The day began with the Statesmen lining up to march together with the band in the lead playing different music pieces. The capitol building of Texas is an amazing feat of architecture. Many people were able to see the march and many were impressed by the uniformity of the Statesmen. The House and Senate members reported to their respective chambers and began debating and passing laws.  One bill in particular was highly favored by both chambers, the bill for secession. The senators and representatives of the Texas Boys State government passed the bill and created a constitution and a declaration of independence. This is the first time in Texas Boys State history that the government body decided to secede from the United States. The gallery of each chamber were cheering and celebrating because they have now made history by becoming a nation. After the a

What do you get, when you have a bunch of American teenage boys on a grassy field in the middle of a beautiful sunny day? Well, first you'll get some major joking and messing around. But after that, you'll usually see and hear the boys begin fulfilling the traditional desire to play America’s favorite sport: football. But here at Texas Boys State 2017, we didn't see or hear a football game, but rather from the game of Speedball. Why? Well because we “Learn By Doing.” Let me explain:  On Wednesday evening, Texas Statesmen were on their 3rd day of Texas Boys State's annual Olympiad tournament, ranging from sports such as dodgeball, basketball, and track. But suprisingly, not football. Instead it was replaced with Speedball: a free-flowing game where players can use both hands and feet to enhance teamwork and include all physical strengths. This is a sport of sports as a combination of ultimate frisbee, lacrosse, soccer, and even football. It's the flexibil

Today marked the first day of match tournament play. This means that every city has a chance to win the tournament for their respective sports unless they get eliminated. The City Olympiad directors build a schedule and some argue that the their tournament bracket is not the best it can be. I talked to Kris Brolin, a Federalist from the city of Goens, who said that the “[City Olympiad Directors] should make each tournament double elimination, because if [they] don’t, then some cities will have no activities during rec time.” What will happen to a city if they lose every sport? What will happen to a city if they have nothing to do during rec time? These are questions that the Olympiad directors can hopefully answer this week. As of Wednesday, it seems that basketball is the most popular sport because each of the four basketball courts were packed leaving no room for pedestrians or players to pass by. This got so out of hand that some counselors, who were the referees for the games, ca

This morning Ty Fuselier was interviewed at the State Capital over the heavy issue of Texas Secession. This has always been an exciting topic here at Boys State because so many strive to see Texas as its own nation. Ty began his interview by speaking about the principles of secession and how it is essentially the Republic of Texas being reformed. He supported his statements by speaking about the history of Texas and how we came to be. Key notes from past State Conventions were brought up for overall reasoning on why the Federalist Party would like to see Texas as its own Nation once again. Ty has gained the reputation of being the leader of this whole secession movement. His strong personality and devotion for a change has really brought him to the top and given him a chance to represent his party as a whole through this interview. Pride and patriotism have always been descriptive dictions when speaking on the topic of Texans or even the date of Texas in general. This was highly emp

The day immediately began with corrections to the runoff election and the Statesmen divided into their respective parties, with many heading to the capitol to commence the House and Senate sessions.  Meanwhile, the platform committees for each party made their stances on different current topics concerning not only the state of Texas, but also the United States. Ideas about a secession, ways to revitalize the economy, and a more strict immigration system were all mentioned during the committee sessions. By witnessing both party committee sessions, there are clear different stances, but some are quite similar. Later that afternoon visiting dignitaries from the House of Representatives and the Senate gave speeches and encouragements to the Texas Boys State government body which raised the morale in the already intense capital chambers. The other statesmen listened to different keynote speakers assigned to their district. The runoff election polls opened today and the Statesmen made su

Berry City Federalist   District Attorney J. Overcash   County Sheriff J. Bricker   County Commissioner G. Allen   Constable J. Powell   Associate Justices, Court of Appeals I. Alrahwan   Assoc. Justice,Ct. of Criminal Appeals Z. Smalt Nationalist   Justice of the Peace H. Meroney R. Shaw   County Surveyor B. Humphreys   County Sheriff S. Denney   County Court of Law Judge R. Blackburn   Constable D. Pfeiffer J. Torres   Chief Justice, Supreme Court G. Von Dohlen   Associate Justice, Supreme Court A. Bailey V. Chatterjee Birkhead City Federalist   State Board of Education A. Broussard   Lieutenant Governor H. Wissel-Littmann   Justice of the Peace A. Xia   District Judge C. Post   County Treasurer R. Griffin   County Judge J. Elliott   Chief Justice, Court of Appeals F. Caruso   Associate Justices, Court of Appeals M. Montemayor-Garza Nationalist   Tax Assessor-Collector M. Ralston   Pres. Judge,Ct. of C

Blas Hernandez Welcome back to the official Texas Boys State blog. On Tuesday evening, the Talent Show tryouts began with so many Statesman filing into Littlefield lobby to showcase their own talent. Today, we met and interviewed with a remarkable young Statesman with the passion for music. A federalist from Flynt City, Blas Hernandez sings, plays piano and guitar with so much soul that he was willing to share his story with us about the amount of hard work he has dedicated towards music and what brought him here to Boys State and its Talent Show. JOHNNY SAMANIEGO: Welcome Blas Hernandez to Texas Boys State news. What city are you appointed to, here at Texas Boys State 2017? BLAS HERNANDEZ: Flynt City. SAMANIEGO: Great! So, what does Boys State mean to you? HERNANDEZ: Boys State is an opportunity of a lifetime to really become knowledgeable of the government and to maybe find your life’s purpose. SAMANIEGO: Now, it seems like your purpose here could also be with music oth

It was an interesting day of conventions. Today was the party primaries for all state elected officials, including Governor and Attorney General.  Both parties believe that they have the power and ability to sweep the opposing party in all these State level positions. From attending the Nationalist State convention, I saw that the newly elected State Party Chair, Andrew Stewart, was able to get his party to pay attention to every speech of every candidate in order for their party to put up the best candidate for the election. Stewart was able to do this by repeatedly reminding his party the word “sweep” and by reminding them of their ultimate goal. From covering this convention, I noticed many unique differences between the Nationalist Party and the Federalist Party. The Nationalist Party appeared to be organized and this was very evident on Monday when the Nationalist Party was able to elect all the necessary officials for the party and the Federalist Party showed their strong wil

On Day 2 of Boys State 2017, the recreational period began. This includes 7 on 7 Speedball, Basketball, Dodgeball, and Band. Here at Boys State 2017, we love to include everyone in every social and physical group. This is why we include all musicians in the Boys State Band. We may have signed up for the political activities, but many of us didn’t expect them to be as long and drawn out as they are. This is why recreational period is focused on freeing our minds from politics; it gives us a break, to say the least. Boys State band is such an outlet for many of our fellow Statesmen. We first met our band director, Mr. Smith; he explained to us of our duties to pump-up the Statesmen during our ending ceremonies, while also keeping the artistic beauty towards music for our “Boys State Song,” our “Star Spangled Banner,” and “Texas, Our Texas.” Just like in highschool, that artistry would be interpreted in different forms no matter where you came from. I literally felt like I was a freshm

It was a great first day of the city Olympiad. The sun was shining , the birds were chirping, and the wind was blowing. Down on the fields boys from all parts of Texas gathered as teams to come as one and compete in many different activities, also know as sports. This is possibly the most heated part of Boys State,  heads are butted and threats are made.  The young statesman has the opportunity to compete in any of the four sports available (Speed Ball, Dodgeball, Basketball and Track). On Monday evening, multiple ankles were broken on the courts (figuratively of course). There were clearly dominant teams, and some were left scrambling to get even a few points by the end of the games. The Olympiad concluded four hours later, showing the competitive nature of the Statesmen. After a long hard day of competition everyone congregated in the quad to end the day. Many of the Statesmen are looking forward to the next days of the Olympiad and are hoping to be the champions of the var

Greetings parents, sponsors, and citizens ! The second day of Boy State has now commenced. After waking up and eating a hearty breakfast the Statesmen immediately went to work. With the sweltering sun above the the capital city of Texas, the Statesmen forged on to elect their officers in the Precinct, County, and State party conventions. This Monday, every Statesmen participated in their respective party convention to elect a fitting leader to guide them to victory in the elections. Elections are an important aspect of the Boy State experience and with that in mind the Statesmen learned not only how to vote for officials, but also to collaborate and discuss real life situations, which is unique to this program. The skill of being able to formally elect and discuss certain issues will be a constant process in Boys State. The Statesmen divided into their city precincts and they elected House and Senate candidates within their parties. The parties, the Federalists and the Nationa

 Welcome parents, sponsors, and citizens, to the official newsletter for the American Legion’s annual Texas Boys State convention. This is the epitome of service-focused education for the beginning of Texas Leaders​. This is where young leaders learn how the government process works and how to be involved in their community. Though the Statesmen are surrounded by hundreds of other leaders from around the state, many will participate in different positions of leadership among their peers to prove to others and themselves that they, individually, serve a great purpose in political activities. This is the beginning of a long journey of contribution to our society. This is Texas Boys State 2017.  From these Statesmen across the state, Boys State 2017 had the privilege of accepting approximately 1,100+ Statesmen for this year's convention. All from different aspects of life, but all coming together to understand the process of creating a successful future. Many of us came here to