Executive Director Jake Ellis initiates Opening Ceremony[/caption]
by: Peter Fontaine and Andrew Gill
At approximately 2:45 P.M. yesterday, all staters marched to McCain Auditorium to attend the 2016 Boys State Opening Ceremony. This included two promo videos, a keynote speaker, and two other advisory speakers.
The energetic yet serious keynote speaker, Dustin Galyon, head coach of the Hesston College men’s basketball team, delivered a powerful and inspiring message at the opening ceremony. He began by having all in attendance stand and mimic his movements and sounds. He then transitioned into the story of wooing his wife while showing a picture of the couple. The appearance of his wife prompted impressed reactions from the crowd. Galyon’s message of the story was that even if the goal seems unattainable, persistence is the key to success. When asked what makes a successful leader Galyon stated that the most important thing you can do is lift each other up. Patton County Counselor Ryan Doberer approved of this message and the speaker as a whole saying, “he was motivational and did a great job of connecting with the staters.”
After the keynote, advisor Thane Chastain spoke about Boys State from a far perspective. He did this through a creative metaphor. Boys State is a vegetable stew. All the staters are the ingredients and Boys State is the pot in which we all stew. But for a stew to actually cook, heat needs to be added. Chastain emphasized his point that all staters need to talk about the things that no one wants to talk about. That is how real change is started. Stater Gabe Pena thought that Thane’s speech was, “easy to comprehend” and he, “got his point across.”
Looking at a more technical level, Todd Vogts talked about the specific process that all staters went through last night. Everyone was either elected to a position or is now running for executive office. Stater Braeden Cornan really enjoyed Vogts speech saying it helped him, “go for whatever career I want because I didn’t set myself and limits.” After this speech, the opening ceremony ended and the staters marched back to the residence halls to vote.]]>
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