12 Manchester Students Selected For Boys State, Girls State Leadership Programs

MANCHESTER, NJ — Twelve Manchester Township High School students have been chosen for the summer leadership programs Boys State and Girls State for 2023.

The two programs are hosted by the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary, and will be held in June. Boys State is marking its 77th session in New Jersey, and will be held at Rider University, while Girls State is marking its 76th and is held at Georgian Court University.

The five-day event is considered New Jersey's preeminent youth leadership and civics program, where over 1,000 rising juniors will participate.

The mission of the program, according to the American Legion, is "to develop good citizens in the United States of America by inspiring the youth of New Jersey to take a more active and intelligent interest in the operation of our State and Nation and in the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship and to understand the sacrifices made by our veterans to preserve our nation and way of life."

The two programs operate similarly, creating city, county, and state governments, electing officials, enacting ordinances and electing state leaders and organizing and voting on bills that then get signed into law or vetoed by the governor they elect.

Students are chosen based on academic achievement, leadership, patriotism, community involvement, and extracurricular activities.

The Manchester students chosen for the 2023 programs are:

• Max Anderson
• Brianna Burgos
• Stephanie Ehrhardt
• Matt Goldman
• Andrew Jiang
• Peter McAndrew
• Patrick McKay
• Aidan Okrasinski
• Zach Perlman
• Ryan Perez
• Manny Swain
• Brian Test