VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY)-- Two Vermilion Parish students won the top two state positions in the gubernatorial election out of 180 boys.

Coeyn Wise from Kaplan is the Governor of Louisiana State Boys 2024. Luke Etie from Erath is lieutenant governor. Louisiana Boys State is a prestigious and premier leadership development program for juniors going into their senior year.

“It teaches young people about civic responsibility. It teaches about leadership and I think the most important thing it teaches is brotherhood,” Wise said.

He added in Kaplan, everyone was talking about Boys State and wanted to have the great title of Governor. He said his U.S. history teacher, who is now the assistant principal, Clayton Chauvin, encouraged students to try out. He said only a certain number of children could go from each school.

“Thankfully, I was one of the ones that was chosen to go from Kaplan,” he said. “Being governor when I first got there. It seemed like that's not going to happen because there were just so many people.”

Wise said they were able to run for local government positions, parish government positions and then state government positions.

“When we got there we were separated into different cities. My city was Feliciana in the fictional parish of Cane Parish,” Wise said. He said he ran for parish president and put up a good fight, but lost.

Etie on the other hand won parish president, which he said was very surprising. He said he was encouraged to go into the program by his school counselor and upperclassmen who shared what a great experience it is.

“It was not something that I intended on doing when I first went there but because of that my parish pushed me to run for the higher roles. I wasn't planning on it. I thought it was an unreachable goal but with the support of my parish, I mean, they bring out the best of you. They let you know that you are the leader that you really can be,” Etie said.

It was also that support that ultimately led him to run for the lieutenant governor position. The program lasted a week and Wise and Etie said they formed strong bonds with people there.

“Guys from Feliciana City and Franklin sitting in our fictional parish of Cane Parish. Those are my brothers. We talk pretty often. We have a little group chat, we all text and, we grew to love each other and even Mr. Etie here. I did not know him before this program and now I will be texting him every day,” Wise said.

“Made a lot of great friends while we were there. Lifelong friends, I'd say. It's a program that not only teaches you your civic responsibilities but also sprinkles in a great amount of fun. Let's have fun while you do it and we both had an amazing time,” Etie said.

However, the two 17-year-olds explained the program has declined in attendance compared to previous years.

“Our parish councilor, PC Lord, he straight up told us he was like in his year coming to Boys State there were about 300. Then for us to have less than 200, that's a big drop. It’s just there's a lot of things that we need to do to help educate people about the program and to help people who want to be involved in the program because it's an amazing program and I don't regret a second,” Wise said.

“It's sad because we had an amazing time there. I mean, I wish there'd be more people there, but I mean, it doesn't undermine the achievements of anything. It was still extremely difficult. But I would love it if more people in the next couple of years started signing up for this program because it was amazing,” Etie said.

Charles Dill, the commander of American Legion Post 29, said they are proud of the young men as they are examples of the future of our country.

“I just wish we had more participation in the program in years past. We don't have the number of kids that apply that used to, but the ones that do, they're the cream of the crop, they're the best; they rise to the top and like I said, we can't express how proud we are of them,” Dill said.

“I think what would help would be if the school councils would push it more," he added. "They have so much going on, but they're the ones that have exposure to the kids especially when they get to the point in the school year between junior and senior year and they know the kids that would benefit from this. They can see the leaders and if they would push it a little more, hopefully they would have more participation.”

So if you’re interested in joining the Boys State, Wise said it doesn’t just have to be for people's desire to be in politics, writing bills, or passing legislation; it's great for learning leadership skills in every aspect of life.

“Our world needs more leaders, especially young leaders and there needs to be people who are engaged or want to be engaged in the community, and really, I think that's the main message of Boys State is to engage in your community and advocate for your community,” Wise said. “Even the secretary of state's office when it came down to that final election, they brought polling machines like actual polling machines from the secretary of state's office and that's what we voted on. So if our state leadership can get behind this program, then our community leadership needs to get behind the program and help advocate for it.”

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