By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
For a handful of Burlington High School students, a week this summer opened their eyes to the world of government.
Four Burlington girls and four boys attended the Badger State events held earlier this summer. The events, sponsored by the American Legion and auxiliary, give high-school juniors a chance to learn about the principles of democracy and government and handling responsibilities at that level.
And for Burlington High School senior-to-be Courtenay Krusemark, the week at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh proved to be a springboard to more. Krusemark, after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor at the event, followed a friend’s nomination all the way to an appointment to Nation Girls State.
She spent a week in Washington, D.C., in late July, getting a chance to practice the same principles on a national scale and getting to meet federal politicians.
The girls
For the first time, Burlington was able to send four girls to state. Kalle Johnson represented Catholic Central, but only Krusemark and Ali Knight were originally slated to represent BHS.
However, Samantha Robers was listed as an alternate, and got a chance to attend when another district had a participant pullout.
“I was super excited,” said Robers, who along with Knight, Krusemark and three of the four boys attended last week’s American Legion meeting at Veterans Terrace.
Robers found out about two to three weeks ahead of the event that she would be able to go.
“I learned a ton,” she said.
Knight and Krusemark, meanwhile, decided to run for state office when they got to Oshkosh. Knight won her primary in the “Nationalist” party, and was a close second in the governor’s race.
But in order to even run, she had to pick up 40 signatures in one evening, and then go through a question and answer session in front of the close to 800 teenagers at the event.
While she lost the race, “it was totally worth the experience,” Knight said.
Krusemark, meanwhile, said she was grateful, in retrospect, to lose in her lieutenant governor primary. “I would’ve been satisfied, and wouldn’t have wanted to go on to Girls Nation.”
But Krusemark – and Knight as well – were both nominated, and went through the on-stage question process and a panel interview. Knight was actually named an alternate before Krusemark was named as a delegate.
While in Washington, Krusemark got to meet Wisconsin’s senators and representatives.
“I had coffee with Ron Johnson,” she said, adding that she also had a sit-down with Rep. Paul Ryan.
“It’s an experience you’re never going to forget,” she said about choosing to pursue a spot at Badger Girls State.
The boys
Representing the area for the boys were BHS’s Eric Beets and Zach Morrow, and Catholic Central’s Sam Joski and Spencer Wilker.
For Beets, the week at Ripon College was a revelation.
“We were all kind of, ‘What is Badger Boys State?’” said Beets. “As the week went on, we began to realize it was bigger than the election and bigger than government.
“It was about making us better people.”
Both Beets and Joski mentioned their counselor at Badger Boys, a young man by the name of Gary.
“He really knew how to motivate people,” Joski said.
Beets held a position of municipal judge, while Joski served as a city alderman but lost a state senator race.
Joski found himself helping with county and city budgets throughout the week. Morrow, meanwhile, held a “state trooper” position, and was responsible for roaming through the various venues and making sure all jobs were being done properly.
“I had to give, like, citations,” Morrow said with a laugh, adding that the social aspect of the week was as important as the government.
All of the representatives left Madison with a positive feeling, and for a few, a chance to go back. Knight applied to be a counselor at the event in a future, as did two of the boys.
Of course, the week wasn’t all work and no play. There were stories of the town crier waking up the girls by knocking on doors each morning, while the boys woke up to the speaker system playing, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
“By the end of the week, we were so sick of it,” bemoaned Morrow.
And there were crazy laws, like crossing the street pretending to be a pterodactyl, or secret knocks.
Beets accidentally created a nuclear disaster when a “power plant” – a lava lamp – was dropped after being stolen as a prank.
“Hands-on training,” said one legion member at the meeting.
Knight added, “It’s called time management.”
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