Nine hundred and thirty-seven of South Carolina’s most promising high school leaders among the rising senior class invaded the campus of Anderson University in June for Palmetto Boys State, a weeklong leadership development program sponsored by The American Legion.
Boys State was started to help develop future leaders for South Carolina by allowing promising young men, nominated by their schools and selected by local American Legion chapters, to participate in “mock” government, running for office, drafting legislation and actually presenting that legislation to leadership in the state capital.
Boys State unofficially began June 8 with a 5k run, the second annual “Run to Remember: U.S. Army Captain David Hortman 5k run/walk.” The run gave participants from across the state an opportunity to join with South Carolina’s emerging young leaders in an event that raised scholarship funds for young people and to honor a fallen Palmetto Boys State staff member who was killed while serving his country.