Frequently Asked Questions

Recruitment and selection is organized by the American Legion at the District level across the state. The Louisiana Department of the American Legion has eight Districts and each one has a different contact person.

This website is maintained by the Program Staff. They can answer any question about the course of the Boys State program itself but will direct all questions regarding recruitment, pre-registration activities, and transportation to the appropriate District contact person.

For a list of District contact persons, please visit the Applying to Attend page.

Find your District number and contact person by visiting the Applying to Attend page.

Speak with your District contact person. There are a variety of ways to attend the program, even if there is not a Legion post to cover the cost. While members of the American Legion must still select and approve all students to attend the program, the cost may be covered in a variety of ways. This includes, but is not limited to corporate or other community organization sponsorship and personal payment.

You can find out more about how the process works in your district by contacting your District contact person.

Orientation meetings vary by District. Contact your District contact person for more information specific to your location.

Travel to the program is coordinated by each American Legion’s District Chairmen. Some Districts may organize a coordinated travel plan, including the use of chartered buses. Students from other Districts with closer proximity to Natchitoches and NSU’s campus may be responsible for providing their own transportation to the program, generally dropped off and picked up by parents. Contact your District contact person for verification of travel requirements from your area of the state.

Citizens who are not dropped off by parents but who have their vehicles remaining on campus must park in the campus lot designated by NSU Police and turn over keys to the Boys State Commission Chair or their designee for the length of the program. Keys are seals in signed envelopes and secured in lock-boxes within the program office for the week.

It is essential to the Boys State experience that you complete the program in its entirety. A Citizen who departs the program early will not receive completion credentials or be able to list himself as a participant. Delegates who know they cannot complete the program should contact their District contact person so that an alternate attendee can be selected to attend.

There are two public events held on the last day that friends and family may attend: the Capitol Program and the Awards Convocation. Outside of these two events, outside visits the flow of the program and are not allowed. Due to the packed schedule, any distraction inhibits the experience for Citizens.

For additional information on the Capitol Program, see the Capitol Program and Departure page.

No. Citizens are not allowed to depart from the program at any time during attendance.

The Boys State schedule allocates an average of 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Citizens may report getting varying amounts of sleep less than this due to their preparing for campaigns, speeches, competitions, or presentations., but there is no obligation to do so. 

Boys State does recommend planning to set aside the day after the program to rest.

Elections, academic activities, and certain Citizen engagement opportunities involve the use of digital platforms. Personal smart phones, tablets, or laptop computers may to be used to complete these activities and tasks. The Program will provide or assist with access to necessary devices for those who may not have their own. Usage of personal electronic devices may be restricted during certain program activities – such as whole program convocations – to limit distractions.

Neither Northwestern State University nor Louisiana Boys State will be responsible for lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed property. Safeguarding property is the responsibility of the Citizen.

Housing units are apartment-style and vary depending on availability as determined by NSU student housing/Campus Living Villages. Room assignment is determined solely by the available housing units to the program and the assignment of citizens to designated cities and parishes within Louisiana Boys State. Rooms available are a mix of single and double occupancy spaces within a given apartment. Once a Citizen has been placed in a room, they cannot switch rooms.

Roommate issues should be raised with counselors and will be addressed during the course of the program by the appropriate Staff Member and/or the Chair of the Boys State Commission.

All campus movement during the program is done by walking, and based on the program schedule, Citizens move together from one activity to another either as a whole program or as smaller, city-and-parish based groups.

Citizens with documented health concerns or with questions about accessibility should contact the Program Staff as soon as possible. While accommodations can be made, program structure and staff availability dictates they are limited to those students with documented medical or physical circumstances requiring it.

Contact the Program Staff immediately. Boys State uses NSU’s dining services, contracted through Sodexo, a full-service food service company. Any needed accommodation can be made (and likely has already in the past) so long as we are given prompt notification of the need. (laboysstate@gmail.com)

Parents can either drop off forgotten items or have them shipped. Drop offs can be made to either a member of the Program Staff or the American Legion at the program office in the Columns apartment complex.

Parents who wish to ship forgotten items may do so by sending it to the following address:

In the case of forgotten prescription medication, parents in the past have also had prescriptions called in to a local pharmacy. We have worked with the pharmacists at Brookshire’s in Natchitoches in previous years. They may be reached at (318) 352-3141. Parents are responsible for any delivery charge.

Louisiana Boys State is a nonsectarian program. It welcomes and has been attended by Citizens from a variety of religious and faith backgrounds. As such and given the length of the program, Boys State does not include as part of its program formal religious services nor does it have time set aside for such in its schedule.

If a Citizen has a specific inquiry regarding religious observance or practice on an individual basis, he should contact the Program Staff to discuss possible accommodations.

Please refer to the suggested packing list.

There are a few optional costs that arise during the week. 

• Each Citizen is provided with one program t-shirt upon registration and offered the opportunity to buy additional ones. (We recommend two as spares to alternate wearing each day as the previous day’s shirt is washed.) Each additional shirt is $10. 
• There are two nights during the week in which Citizens can order a pizza to eat in the dorms. Pizzas (large cheese or pepperoni from Johnny’s Pizza) must be pre-ordered at registration and cost $12 each. 
• A Boys State store will operate during the week with a variety of merchandise sold exclusively during the program. Items in the past have included lanyards, graduation honor cords, water bottles, sweatshirts, hats, and more. Price per item typically range from $5-$25. 
• A convenience store located adjacent to the university dining hall is also available on campus to students during the week.

Students may purchase items during the week through Boys State with either card, cash, or check – electronic card payments are preferred, when possible.

Members of the American Legion provide laundry service to wash Boys State shirts ONLY each day. Each night Citizens turn in dirty shirts and receive back clean shirts turned in the night before. Citizens should bring an adequate amount of other clothing items (shorts/pants, socks, underwear, etc.) to last the week.

A program nurse is on hand to conduct a morning sick call each day, as well as evaluate any other basic medical needs.

If there is a serious issue requiring doctor’s examination or care, the American Legion will coordinate taking the Citizen to the appropriate medical care facility for examination after consultation with parents.

Applications for open counselor positions are sent directly to citizens via email at the completion of the program. Application deadlines are posted on social media as well (@laboysstate).

Counselor selection for Boys State is headed by a selection committee composed of a mixture of Staff Members and Senior Counselors. All Citizens are evaluated equally throughout the week of their Boys State experience for consideration without regard to elected position within the program.

Counselor selection is based solely on performance at the Boys State program, formal applications, and/or phone interviews with Staff Members. While outside factors such as extracurricular activities, GPA, or having relatives in the American Legion might bolster an already strong Counselor application, they are not a determining factor in the decision to extend a Counselor application to a former Citizen.

Boys State is known for the close friendships that Citizens build with one another over the course of the week. Unfortunately, though it is a constant request, the Program Staff and American Legion do not at this time sponsor or coordinate any type of LABS Citizen reunion events throughout the year. While it is a possibility we are looking at in the future, at this time any such activities are coordinated personally between former Citizens themselves.