American Legion Premier Illinois Boys State returns to Eastern Saturday for its 83rd annual session.

Boys State has been at Eastern for 43 years. 

Students check-in at Andrews Hall between noon and 6 p.m. followed by orientation sessions at 6:45 p.m.

During the week students will learn the “responsibilities of citizenship” by participating in hands on elements such as running for a political office, according to the group’s website. 

The students are assigned to fictional political parties that are randomly created, and after fictional political parties are created, the citizens are randomly created. 

The political and governmental elements of the program center around creating and facilitating city, county, and state governments, according to the website.

“Other activities include various levels of legislative sessions, political party caucuses, four different election cycles, general assemblies, band concerts, law enforcement presentations and recreational programs,” according to the website.

More information and an itinerary for the week can be found at http://illinoisboysstate.org/.

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