The 66th session of the American Legion Missouri Boys’ State conducted recently at Central Missouri State University included a pair of Mehlville Senior High School students — Ben Kellison and Tim Hines.

Each student attending Boys’ State has completed his junior year of high school and was selected based on his leadership and citizenship skills. Expenses for the boys attending Boys’ State were paid for by local American Legion posts.

At Boys’ State, Hines, the son of Kath-erine and Timothy Hines, was assigned to live in Gambrel City.

Kellison, the son of Linda and Greg Kell-ison, was a resident of Ingle City, where he was elected to the office of City Council for Ward 2. In addition, Kellison was presented with a 2005 Outstanding Lobbyist award.

Boys State is a pure democracy in that all citizens may vote and are eligible to hold office. The program is designed to educate and train Missouri’s young leaders in functional citizenship, leadership and government. Nearly 1,000 student leaders built an entire government in a single week.

The Boys’ State staff is comprised of ed-ucational, legal, professional, and civic leaders who volunteer their time each year.