Valley Youth Head to State Programs

The VCF awards sponsorship grants to different American Legion posts across the Valley to send students to state leadership programs.

VCF awarded sponsorship grants to American Legion's
John Collins Post 24 in Derby, Emil Senger Post 10
in Seymour and David S. Miles Post 174 in Oxford,
supporting each post in the cost to send high school
juniors to the Boys State Leadership Program and the
Laurel Girls State Program, held in June and July.


Youth participate in a practical government course,
including a mock election, for the purpose of developing
a better understanding of the democratic process and
civic leadership. Each student is assigned a fictional
town and a political party for the process.

Government leaders from across Connecticut,
including mayors and selectmen, as well as state and
federal representatives, such as U.S. Senator Richard
Blumenthal, participate in the leadership programs
over the course of a week and help guide the students'
election process.

Students return from the State Leadership Programs

with a deeper sense of how local, state and federal
governments function.