Mena High School has announced the students who will be attending Arkansas Girls State and Arkansas Boys State this summer as delegates from the high school. Hannah McDonald, Caroline Morgan, and Kara O’Donnal will be attending Arkansas Girls State, while Noah Swall and Taylor Wiseman will be attending Arkansas Boys State. Both of these programs will take place May 27 through June 1. Arkansas Girls State is held at the campus of Harding University, in Searcy, while Arkansas Boys State is held at the campus of the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway.
The programs are eligible to students who have just completed their junior year of high school.
The purpose of these programs focuses on participation and personal experience in a model state, complete with governing bodies and elected public officials. It is designed to mirror the structure and operation of its respective city, county and state governments. It is also to inform students about the duties, privileges, and participation in the functioning of their government; and to help them grasp the meaning of some of the responsibilities which they must assume when they become adults.