Upper Schooler Shines in Missouri Leadership Program
Question: Is it possible to be a President and a State Supreme Court Justice at the same time?
Answer: Yes—but only if you’re Student Body President and get elected to the bench in the Missouri Boys State program!
This past summer, Barrett Pierce (US'17) very ably represented Principia at the 2016 Missouri Boys State, which brought nearly 1,000 high school juniors from around the Show Me State to the University of Central Missouri, which has hosted the program since 1953. Barrett was introduced to the opportunity by Upper School Academic and College Counselor Christen Alford, and Principia nominated Barrett for participation and sponsored his attendance at the eight-day event.
“It was such a blessing to have the School supporting me the entire way,” says Barrett, who appreciated the perspective gained from mingling with hundreds of other rising seniors from diverse backgrounds and experiences. “Being thrown into this program with a bunch of strangers and forming a working government was an experience that will stay with me for a long, long time. It was awesome to be learning about democracy, government, and leadership with them!”
Boys and Girls State programs have been sponsored around the country by the American Legion for over 75 years. The aim is to reinforce basic American ideals for rising high school seniors—including “the need for competition, the value of public service, [and] the strength of the individual voice and vote,” the website notes. Over the course of the program, students work together to construct a state and govern and run its operations. During the simulation, Barrett chose to participate in the law school, passed the state’s “bar exam,” and was elected municipal judge. He then competed against 80 other boys for selection as one of seven supreme court justices, earning a specially inscribed gavel (pictured above) at the award ceremony.
Speakers at the program included the current and a past Governor of Missouri, the Mayor of Kansas City, Frank White (a retired Hall of Fame baseball player for the Kansas City Royals), and retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Martin R. Steele, an Arkansas Boys State alum. “This is an extraordinary leadership experience,” General Steele noted in the run-up to the 2016 event. “You’ll realize that the things you learn here will hold you in good stead the rest of your life.”
Barrett agrees wholeheartedly. “What these amazing speakers had to share was really inspiring and has kept me thinking,” he says. And he lost no time applying what he learned to his leadership roles at Principia. “I recently talked to the entire student body about the perspective gained from my week at Boys' State and made sure they realized how blessed we all really are as Principians.”