Wednesday, July 18, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.
The Nevada state government was transformed last month as teenage boys took control and ran their own cities.
Kai Kadoich was elected governor and quickly got busy at the University of Nevada, Reno, campus signing more bills than he vetoed.
Kadoich, 17, led the 2001 American Legion Nevada Boys' State program, which teaches high school students about the leadership abilities it takes to be a politician. This weeklong camp reveals the grueling schedule and tremendous responsibility a politician has to handle through its own heavily packed schedule.
The boys have a full agenda, from 6:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily. They handle everything from city meetings to elections to athletics.
"It was an intensive week and we engaged in so many different activities," Kadoich said. "I probably got about four hours' sleep a night."
"We try to catch these kids when they are young and show them not only do they have certain rights, they also have certain responsibilities," Jay Hansen, executive director and former Boys' State participant in 1980, said. "This is the first opportunity for them to take a stand on political issues. We try to have all of the issues that are in the newspapers there to talk about."
The boys stayed in the campus dorms, and each floor was considered a separate city. Each city had a mayor and city council, Kadoich said.
The boys had plenty of work to keep them busy throughout the week, even if they weren't an elected official. Craig Huntington, 17, did not win a position at Boys' State, so he spent the week participating in every event he could and getting noticed. The Valley High School senior was selected as one of two boys who will represent Nevada at Boys' Nation in Washington later this month.
"I am big in leadership and in government," Huntington said. "I took a real active role in Boys' State. I am not afraid to try something new or step out of my comfort zone."
Huntington said he first became interested in politics when his father ran for city council in California during his youth. In high school in Nevada, he encountered a few history and government teachers who triggered even more interest in the subjects, he said. He used this camp to get the hands-on experience that he couldn't learn from books.
"A lot of people don't know too much about the government, and this gives them the opportunity to learn more," Huntington said. "It also gives them the ability to intermingle with kids from all over Nevada."
When teens come from a large city like Las Vegas, they sometimes don't realize the diversity that exists in the more rural cities and counties, Hansen said. He said the camp, when he went 20 years ago, introduced him to new groups of people and helped him understand a new way of life.
The boys are hand-picked for the camp and are expected to pay a $50 fee to prove their commitment, Hansen said. The rest of the tuition is covered by American Legion, which is continuously looking for donors. Anyone who wants to help the boys attend camp can contact the UNR Foundation and make a donation.
"This is an incredible program that mirrors the U.S. government on a local and national level," Huntington said. "Brotherhood and our role in government were the main themes throughout the week."
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