Transcript BADGER BOYS STATE 2008 AN AMERICAN LEGION PROGRAM

A SUCCESS STORY
WISCONSIN
AMERICAN
LEGION
BADGER BOYS STATE
Prepared By Russ Hanseter 2008
INCREASING
PARTICIPATION
Strengths of the BBS Program
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A Consistent starting date
Solid counselor & support staff
An involved BBS Board of Directors
Continuous Evaluation of the program
An excellent Citizenship program
A very good website
A fledgling Alumni Association
Supportive Posts and other sponsors
Attention to the 3 R’s of BBS
A realization that the only place where work
comes before success is in the dictionary
RH 2008
WISCONSIN
BADGER
BOYS
STATE
2008
2008 BADGER
BOYS STATE
814 CITIZENS
135 SUPPORT STAFF
INCREASING
ATTENDANCE
IN 2008
• At the Boys State Directors Conference in October,
Americanism Chairman Joe Caouette, addressed the movers
and shakers of the various Boys State Programs. He began by
reading Resolution #1 passed by the NEC, its title,
“Expression of Concern in The Decline of Boys State
Participation”. The resolution addressed the national
organizations’ concern over the decline in overall number of
participants. He asked that all in attendance make a special
effort toward reversing the trend of decline in attendance.
• As Chairman of the Board of BBS I took that challenge back
to the Department Executive Committee and the BBS Board
of Directors.
WHAT MUST WE DO TO
SUCCESSFULLY REVERSE
THE DECLINE?
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There are a number of “axioms” or self-evident truths as Webster would
call them, that come into play here. As follows:
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The only place where “success” comes before “work” is in the
dictionary.
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There is a lot of competition for the most gifted and talented of our high
school juniors in summer programs.
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To attract these “best of the best” we must have the best program
possible it must mean something to have attended the Boys State
Program therefore, we must be the “best we can be”.
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Excellence is the result of caring more than others think wise, risking
more than others think safe, dreaming more than others think is
practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. Excellence is
not a destination it is a journey.
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As a Director and now as Chairman of the Board of BBS I have always
said; “Don’t bring me a problem without at least one solution”. So what
are the solutions?
GETTING THE
WORD OUT
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The problem was clear the declining numbers. The solution would take several
pathways to achieve.
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In January I reported to the Department Executive Committee the concerns of the
National Organization and presented a Resolution adopted by the DEC to encourage
Posts to make every effort to increase participation at BBS in 2008. I prepared a
resolution for the Department Executive Committee to put there support behind the
program.
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In February I submitted an article to the Badger Legionnaire titled “Badger Boys
State 2008 session can be a year of increasing numbers” , an article aimed at
Legionnaires. I pointed out that some Posts were not filling their quota and that those
that have been filling their quota and would like to increase their number could do so.
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The question was would reservations, the commitment by sponsors to pay for a boy to attend, go
up?
What did we need to do to make sure reservations became registrations which are the
commitment by a boy to attend the upcoming session?
And, what impact would requests for refunds have on the budget and how could we avoid them?
Again the solution was to approach the problem on several fronts. Legion leadership,
our sponsors, the schools, our Post contacts, and a direct appeal to our legionnaires to
become involved. These individuals or groups and the Reservation, Registration, and
Refund process would all be our targets. We needed to pay special attention to the
three R’s of the BBS program.
GETTING THE WORD OUT ON
THE UPCOMING SESSION
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In December letters were sent to schools announcing and
explaining the up-coming session along with BBS informational
brochure. (Tri-fold Pamphlet)
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Also a mailing goes to all Posts and sponsors. The letter
explains sponsorship, includes a BBS business card, BBS
informational brochure, a copy of the school letter and includes
a reservation card.
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Some reservations cards, which are the commitment by Posts
and sponsors to pay for a high school junior to attend, begin
coming in immediately.
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Once a reservation is in a Registration card is sent out for each
reservation paid for. This goes to Posts and sponsors who then
deliver them to the schools. The school now knows how many
boys can be selected. Some Posts have more involvement than
others however, all work through the schools. The boys then
must send in their registration and medical information to our
office secretary before receiving final information.
THE CHALLENGE BEGINS
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Once the BBS secretary begins to receive registrations of high school juniors from around the
state they must be assigned a registration number, assigned to a dorm and numbers balanced to
even out the 27 cities in the eight BBS county’s.
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An informational brochure and other important information is sent to each young man registered
and “Orientation Sessions” are posted on our website.
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At some point we need to become concerned about a lack of return of registration cards. We have
a March 31 cutoff for full refund for sponsors unable to fill their reservation quota. As of March 31,
2008 we had 14 requests for refunds. Calls were made to all of these to see if they could get an
alternate or whether they would sponsor a junior from some other school district. The final request
for refunds was reduced to six of the fourteen originally requested. Also by following up on
reservations without registrations we were able to cut back on unfilled slots.
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We had 862 reservations paid*, six refunds reduced the numbers to 858. We had 814 citizens on
Sunday June 15, the second day of the program. There were 21 registered citizens that did not
show up for the program and each of these were contacted as to whether they were in fact going
to attend. Only one had notified the sponsor that they would not be attending, nine said they had
decided not to attend, and one was unable to attend for undisclosed reasons, one guardian knew
nothing about the commitment to attend, and the other nine could not be reached or would not
return a message left on an answering machine.
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That unfortunately left 21 unfilled slots for the session. There were another seven other sponsors
that requested late refunds leaving eight reservations unaccounted for that may have been
recorded twice.
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*Deposits show 857 paid reservations not 862.
THE KEY TO INCREASING
OUR NUMBERS
• Director Duckworth, the BBS secretary Jill, Fred Berns a
member of the Board and member of our on-site legal team
and myself as Board Chairman made calls to those Posts
and sponsors that were not getting there registrations in.
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In some cases they were intending to get a refund or partial
refund or just lose their reservation fee. There were several
that agreed to sponsor a boy from another school when
asked. That is a question that will appear on future
reservation cards with a check-off.
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With considerable effort using the phone the number of
registrations improved and our attendance went from 772 in
2007 to 814 in 2008. If it weren’t for the “no-shows” where
we had no inkling they weren’t coming we would have had a
8.5% increase over last year.
WHAT IS OUR
CAPACITY?
• BBS signs a three year contract with Ripon College. They
agree to provide accommodations including room, board,
educational and recreational facilities, and parking
facilities as required. The contract covers a ten day
agreement period and agrees to accommodate up to 980
Boys State citizens, counselors and administrative staff
members. We have about 135 staff on-site of which about
100+ are housed on campus.
• We operate very close to capacity with 862 reservations
and with 100 staff on campus we would be at about 99% of
maximum capacity. Our numbers must be managed very
carefully.
KEYS TO
SUCCESSOUR WEBSITE
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Our website was one of the earliest established and has been
used as a model by other Boys State programs. It is I believe
the best and most economical way of spreading the message on
your program. The orientation paints a true picture of the
overall program and the pictures of the previous session show
their classmates involved in the previous years program. At
orientations, parents are told they can follow the week long
session with daily pictures and election results.
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We have also opened the doors and welcomed sponsors,
parents, and legionnaires to attend our evening assemblies
including the Thursday Inaugural ceremonies with the BBS Band
and Chorus performing, with distinguished guests such as State
of Wisconsin Lt Governor, State Supreme Court Judge swearing
in BBS State officers, the Adjutant General of the Wisconsin
National Guard leading the inaugural parade, and by inviting
veterans and other visitors to our Friday evenings Veteran’s
salute. Both events are not soon forgotten.
COUNSELORS &
SUPPORT STAFF
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We have 65 counselors on staff for eight counties and 27 cities and everyone has
passed through the Boys State Program and eight past Boys Nation participants
serve as counselors or assistants. We have a Counselor Recruitment Team made
up of Dr. David Schuler a school administrator, Rev. Thomas Skrenes a Lutheran
Bishop, and Dr. Mark Matosian an Administrative Counselor in the School of
Business at U.W. Madison. Last year they had 140 applications to fill ten counselor
staff openings.
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Legionnaires make up most of the support staff including eleven Past Department
Commander’s and eight of those serve on the Board of Directors.
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The college athletic coaches and staff help run our sports activity program.
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The program features motivational speakers and public officials from city, county,
state, and national elective and appointed offices. With Schools of Instruction in
Law, Public Speaking, Parliamentary Procedure, Ecology, Lobbying Techniques,
Leadership, and Peace Officers School. We have Catholic, Protestant, Wisconsin
Synod, Jewish Services, a non-denominational service and a special discussion
option on Sunday. We have a choice of seven different political seminars including
Principles of Persuasion, Party Organization Techniques, Campaign Strategies,
Current Political Issues, Legislative Process & Techniques, Lobbying: The Politics
of Pressure Groups, and Public Relations Techniques. Candidate schools are also
held for all potential office holders.
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We evaluate and consider new offerings or changes at the conclusion of every
session to be considered by the Board of Directors.
SURVEYS CAN
MEASURE
YOUR
SUCCESS
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What the citizens take back home
from their Boys State experience is
an important component of success
to our program as anything we can
do.
SURVEY RESULTS- An
agent for change
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The Annual Citizens Survey provides valuable feedback to Board
Summary of Favorable Ratings:
Orientations & Mailings Prior to BBS
61%
BBS Platforms added to the BBS session
52%
BBS Manual was useful
94%
BBS Manual was easy to follow
92%
Displays of Patriotism added to the BBS experience
88%
Allotted time for recreation should be reduced
6%
Schools of Instruction useful for BBS experience
81%
Rate Schools on 0 to 7 scale helpful by course
Public Speaking
5.90
Leadership
5.86
Parliamentary Procedure
5.84
Law School
5.44
Peace Officers School
5.36
Ecology
5.04
Lobbying Techniques
4.95
Above provided information useful after BBS
87%
Availability of City Counselors
96%
City Counselors took personal interest
97%
County Counselor effective in explaining program
87%
County Counselor was available when needed
66%
Now have a better understanding of State Gov.
95%
A better understanding of the Political Process
96%
Meeting new people
94%
Experience increased confidence in public speaking
87%
Difficult to keep up with the pace of BBS
64%
Will be more involved in my community as result BBS
82%
Assemblies were an important part of program
87%
The Band was an asset to program
89%
The Chorus was an asset to the program
67%
The Color Guard was an asset to the program
86%
The Bugle Citizen was an asset to the program
86%
The variety of food was adequate
41%
The quality of food was adequate
36%
Overall I had a great time at BBS
94%
Will recommend program to others
96%
The above was taken from a survey in 2005 and was useful in having the college food service make some very positive
changes. The 2008 survey is not yet complete. I want to thank Rob Reff PHD a City Counselor for his expertise and dedication
to improving the overall program. RH
CATALYSTS, SYNERGISM,
& STEWARDSHIP
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In my closing message I included the following in summary; Enzymes are
catalysts in living systems when present good things happen. They are not
used in the reaction and can be used over and over again. I asked that they
become catalysts in their schools and communities. To make good things
happen.
I talked about how Synergism refers to any combination of actions in which
the result is more than that which would be attained if the actions were
entirely independent of each other. In other words the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. I asked that they used the principal of synergism and as
a 67th class of BBS they would achieve great things.
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I closed with stewardship, and it could be best expressed with the example
of a shepherd who cares for his flock, just as we are all stewards of the
land. I told them that they were a pivotal generation in the preservation of
our environment and of the American way of life. Now that these citizens of
BBS have discovered that they can make a difference it is now their
obligation to make a difference. They are to be stewards of the American
way of life and of our environment. As they stay in contact, as they work
together as a member of the 67th session, they would accomplish more than
they can do individually.
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Their eyes are “bright with the future” and they will make a difference.
Russ Hanseter Chr. of Bd BBS Inc.
TESTIMONY TO SUCCESS
A Letter to a Veteran written by a citizen of Badger Boys State
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Dear Friend,
I would like to start out by telling you why I am writing to you. I am 17 years old and just
completed my junior year in high school. I was chosen as one of three students in my class to
attend Badger Boys State. This program is a week long and is held at Ripon College in Ripon,
Wisconsin. Over 850 students from Wisconsin come here and we are separated into dorms which
are our “counties” and each county has certain rooms that represent “cities”. As a whole, we
represent “the 51st state” or Badger Boys State. We hold elections for government positions at
each of the levels, city, county, and state. Throughout the week meetings are held at all three
levels and different laws can be passed and amended. It is really a great experience for everyone
involved. We have grown very close as friends. I will walk away from this experience with lasting
friendships and knowledge that can’t be taught in schools.
This is relevant because this entire thing is sponsored by the American Legion and almost
everyone attending is here because their local Legion post paid their entire cost. There are dozens
of veterans here who have had the opportunity to share their stories with us and I have really taken
it to heart. My grandfather was a veteran from the Korean War and is a nineteen year volunteer at
BBS. It is mostly due to him that I am here because he has been pushing me to do it my entire life
and he is an active member in the post that has sponsored me to be here. I have considered joining
the Armed Forces after this week of being here because I have seen first-hand what importance it
has on a community and the things these men have done for everyone is amazing.
Now I would love the opportunity to thank you. It is people like you that help defend our
country at your own expense that makes it what it is today. I am sure that you do already, but I
hope you understand how thankful I, and all the other boys/men here at Badger Boys State are to
have you fighting for us.
If you wish to write me back you may, but please know it is entirely up to you and I will not
be disappointed if a response doesn’t come my way. My contact information is as follows:
Tommy Grelecki
211 Stoneridge Ln
Seymour, Wisconsin 54165
Sincerely,
Tommy Grelecki
or
[email protected]
SUMMARY
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The BBS program is continually monitored, evaluated, and changed to
provide the best experience that we can. The survey by Robb Reff covers
the entire scope of our program and because they do not identify
themselves is as true a measure of our program as we can achieve. It has
proven to be a tremendous asset to our program as we strive toward
excellence.
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Our counselor staff with a mix of experience and fresh input of junior
counselors each year continues to hone their skills needed to make the
Boys State experience the “best that it can be”. Imagine 140 applications
for 14 openings. We continue to attract our Boys Nation Senators to
return with eight on staff last year, many returning after attending
graduate programs around the country. With eight attorneys volunteering
and nine PDC’s working in the program working wherever they can show
dedication to the program makes it strong.
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And, “There eyes are bright with the Future”.
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Thanks for listening! RH 2008