Five Lafayette High seniors attend Mississippi Boys State at Ole Miss

Five Lafayette High School seniors traded a normal school week for a crash course in democracy at the University of Mississippi, joining more than 320 Boys State delegates from across Mississippi in elections, mock legislation and court proceedings.

Reed Jordan, Ford Atkinson, Harris Byrd, Jackson Atkinson and Christopher Fernandez-Interiano represented Lafayette High in a program built to teach rising seniors how city, county and state government work in practice. The Lafayette County School District said the group attended Mississippi Boys State on the Ole Miss campus as part of a weeklong experience focused on leadership, public speaking and civic responsibility.

Mississippi American Legion Boys State describes the program as the premiere leadership program for rising high school seniors in the state. Delegates are asked not only to learn about government, leadership and service, but to put that knowledge into action through a mock government structure that includes campaigns, elections, legislative sessions and court proceedings.

For Lafayette County families, the value goes beyond a line on a college application or résumé. Boys State is designed to give students a working understanding of how public institutions function before they are old enough to vote, and it places them in a setting where they have to persuade peers, follow rules and make decisions under pressure. Those are the same skills that matter in school board meetings, county government, civic groups and, eventually, local elections.

The program also has deep roots in Mississippi. The Mississippi American Legion says Magnolia Boys State was incorporated on May 2, 1939, and the first session was held in Jackson from June 11-17, 1939. In 2026, the state session ran May 24-30 at the University of Mississippi, continuing a tradition that has stretched across generations.

That reach extends well beyond Mississippi. American Legion Boys State programs operate in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and more than 28,000 young men participate nationally each year, according to Mississippi Boys State materials. Ole Miss said more than 250 young men attended its 2024 session, making this year’s turnout of more than 320 a notable increase on the Oxford campus.

For Lafayette High, the five delegates gave the school district a visible presence in a statewide civic training ground that is meant to help shape future leaders long before they cast a first ballot.