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CONTACT: By Jonathan Wallace GIRLS, BOYS STATE PROGRAM GEARS UP FOR ANNUAL VISIT TO FSU CAMPUS TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State University will play host to the annual Girls and Boys State Program welcoming hundreds of deserving soon-to-be seniors from all around Florida onto campus. Students are selected on the basis of potential leadership qualities; 300 girls and 520 boys will attend separate weeklong sessions that help to develop a better perspective on how government operates. Once the girls and boys arrive they will have the opportunity to participate in political organizations from the local to the state level. As citizens of their mock government the students will hold city, county and state elections while organized into two political parties. Each party will hold conferences to establish its policies and elect candidates for state offices. To effectively run their parties throughout the week students will have the help of counselors, lawyers, businessmen and former program attendees. The first session will begin June 12 for the girls, with a reception on the Union Green. During the week Jackie Ihnenfeld, chair of the Florida Girls State Program, has planned to have the girls sit in on scheduled guest speakers who include Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp and Chief Financial Officer of Florida Alex Sink. The girls will also spend several days visiting the Capitol Building. The session will conclude with an award ceremony June 19 in Room 101 of the new FSU classroom building, known as HCB. The boys’ session will begin at 11 a.m. June 22 and last until the following Saturday, June 28. Gene Smith, director of the Florida Boys State Program, has invited speakers who include Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Dr. Al Bohl, a well-known author and motivational speaker. By the end of the week, the Girls and Boys State Program will have helped students to understand the privileges and responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States so they may in the future properly participate in the functioning of their government. ### |