The Lion's Roundtable (Guests: Representatives from Boy State)
Download MP3Good day. Good day. This is Amber Narro on the Lion's Roundtable here at KSLU ninety point nine FM, The Lion Southeastern Louisiana University. I have two awesome gentlemen sitting in front of me. First of all, they are here for Boys State.
Amber Narro:We're gonna learn a little bit about this because they are they've been here all week chanting, singing, doing all kinds of awesome things on campus, but mostly learning about our government, learning about our community, and how to be fantastic citizens when, they just get a little bit taller because I feel like they're they're they're definitely on their way to being grown for sure. Welcome. I have Franklin Bradwell. He is governor elect of this boy state thing. We'll find out what that means in just a second.
Amber Narro:He's from Minden, Louisiana. And I also have Kenny Primus from Mandeville, commissioner of agriculture now. Correct? Wonderful. I'm so glad to see y'all.
Amber Narro:And with you guys, you've got your senior counselor, Jacob Cheatwood. You've also got a couple of staff members here, Ricky Bryant as well as Micah Scott. We thank them for all of their, what you've brought to the program and and taking care of mentoring these young men. So we appreciate everything that you've been doing this week. I know that I know that hanging out with a with a a crew of of late teens can be interesting, I'm sure.
Amber Narro:So I don't even wanna know about some of the things. Right? But welcome. I'm so glad to have y'all. And this this is our state's best.
Amber Narro:Right? You guys represent our state's best. So tell me, I'm gonna start with our governor here.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, ma'am.
Amber Narro:Alright? Our governor. Tell me about Boise State. What is this? I I look around campus all week, and I've got y'all sometimes y'all are super quiet, and then sometimes y'all are super loud, and I have no idea what's going on.
Amber Narro:What is happening?
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, ma'am. So we are a, a leadership group, that is that comes from all over all over Louisiana. So we have people from up North, have people from down South, we have people East West, and we all come together, and we meet other people. It's a lot of connecting. It's a lot of, you know
Amber Narro:Networking. Networking.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes. And then, it's also heavy on leadership. So when you first enter Boise State, the first thing that they do on the first day is they get you a role. They get you a thing to do all week, a job.
Amber Narro:Like what?
Franklin Bradwell:Like, I am the parish president. So we have parishes that have city governments, and they have parish governments.
Amber Narro:So you have like a little walk in city
Franklin Bradwell:Yes.
Amber Narro:Around Southeastern right now?
Franklin Bradwell:Yes. Each parish has two cities. Okay. So a lot of jobs to fill.
Amber Narro:So you're gonna have a couple of mayors?
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, ma'am. Fantastic. Two mayors, one parish president. And as mayors and presidents, it's it's a lot of leadership. It's a lot of, you know, putting your voice out there, working for the people that you represent.
Franklin Bradwell:You know, you'll you'll stand in front of them a lot, but most of the time, you'll stand behind them and support them and, you know, keep them in line, do all the fun leadership stuff, but most of the time, when something goes wrong, it's it's it's on the leadership. So that's so
Amber Narro:I bet you're what that means. So, like, if something goes wrong, do they, like, throw something at you? No. No. No.
Amber Narro:No. The the, you know, all of a sudden, the the chief of whatever ran off with the money for the thing. What happens?
Franklin Bradwell:So so, you know, the the the counselors don't get involved with the actual, you know, academics, but keeping the kids in line, keeping the boys in line, we're all 17 years old. It's
Amber Narro:It's a lot. It's a lot.
Franklin Bradwell:It's a lot.
Amber Narro:I raised teenagers. I get it. So mine are on the other side of it. I will just let you know that they are all, you know, gainfully employed, wonderful citizens. Yes, I wish they'd vote more, but, other than that, I think they're doing okay.
Amber Narro:They made it. You will too.
Franklin Bradwell:Besides learning leadership, it's a lot of learning how to be active in your local and state government. So, you know, we hold elections.
Amber Narro:Mhmm.
Franklin Bradwell:We hold, you know, city elections, parish elections, and eventually the state elections, which are what me and him just finished today.
Amber Narro:Kenny Primus. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. So y'all just and to be fair, these guys are all they're all together.
Amber Narro:They're they're there must be a 150 of them here. 200, maybe?
Franklin Bradwell:222.
Amber Narro:Okay. There's a lot. So I've seen them all packed and gathered in, here around Southeastern, and there are a lot of you guys. And you are you're awesome, by the way. We've loved having you here.
Amber Narro:We absolutely adore this event, and it's a darling of the university for sure. So thank you for being here at Southeastern number one, but also kinda representing your areas as well and seeing, and letting us have letting us borrow you for a second So you're really kind of a a a little a city a walk in city, Kenny, as we talked about. Commissioner of Agriculture. So what does that mean you're gonna do?
Kenny Primus:So for Commissioner of Agriculture, my job my job and title is to owe my my job and title as commissioner of agriculture, I oversee the branches of agriculture and make sure that all our food, all our necessities that agriculture takes to keep thriving, you know, our businesses, to just stay afloat.
Amber Narro:Right. So you're looking at it from an economic standpoint as well as a protection standpoint. I'm sure safety comes in there as well for sure.
Kenny Primus:Absolutely.
Amber Narro:Wonderful. And why why did you decide to to run for Commissioner of Agriculture?
Kenny Primus:So, over at my school, I took agriculture for the past two years. I was gonna take a third but it didn't end up that way. But before that, I had an opportunity to work on a farm for my summer. And I really enjoyed the experience to be able to, work, on a goat farm, feed animals, take care yep. Yep.
Amber Narro:Love me some goats.
Kenny Primus:Oh, yeah. Oh, I love I
Amber Narro:could watch Facebook goats all day long.
Kenny Primus:Oh, yeah. They're they're beautiful. Beautiful.
Amber Narro:But you know, my mom had a mean goat No.
Kenny Primus:When they
Amber Narro:were growing up. Mom had this mean goat. Its name was Bullwinkle. My brother named it.
Kenny Primus:Don't remember.
Amber Narro:And that thing jumped on my mom's car one time, and she got out of the car with her bottle of bleach kinda tasted this goat off the car. It was terrible. Yep. But, yeah, goats are goats are interesting fellows. They could be super awesome or super, like, kinda in your face.
Kenny Primus:Oh, absolutely. Especially especially when you have to go feed them. I remember a time where I
Amber Narro:Get a couple of horns up against
Kenny Primus:Oh, absolutely. All the time.
Amber Narro:Up against your thighs a little bit?
Kenny Primus:Yes, ma'am.
Amber Narro:Letting you know it's time.
Kenny Primus:Oh, it did. But just I I love being able to, you know, just represent agriculture and to, try and push for more initiatives to better the program and to bring up more small farmers to be able to grow business in those areas.
Amber Narro:So I gotta imagine this week, y'all y'all have run for these offices. Right? So this week, I gotta imagine that y'all been campaigning a bit. Right?
Franklin Bradwell:We have.
Amber Narro:Yes. So what does that look like in something like Boise State? You know, I mean, obviously, there's a lot of campaign fundraising and things like that that go on. Right now, we've got a big election that's happening in the state that we're paying attention to from, you know, from the the outside outside of of Boise Boise State world. Right?
Amber Narro:But so you guys have gotten to see a little mud slinging happening there. Right? But I'm hoping that y'all aren't so terrible No. In your area. Right?
Franklin Bradwell:It was the the other candidate that I ran against, for governor was you know, I've known him forever. I've known him since I was nine years old.
Amber Narro:Well, drop his name. Give him the respect.
Franklin Bradwell:Ryan Sipes
Amber Narro:Alright.
Franklin Bradwell:Absolute a wonderful a person to run against. One of the most respective, respectable people that I that I know.
Amber Narro:There you go. Where's he from?
Franklin Bradwell:He's from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Amber Narro:Alright. So up north too. Yes. Alright.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes. Me, Me and him share a lot of qualities. So, what marketing ourselves looks like is, so we got here on Monday and the first thing that I moved to do was meet as many people as humanly possible.
Amber Narro:Uh-huh.
Franklin Bradwell:It was it was a great time. All of the people of Boys State were very very, you know, very relaxed. They didn't they didn't mind, people coming up to them. They were all very friendly. And I appreciate that because I've been through many, many activities where people just wouldn't wouldn't do anything.
Franklin Bradwell:They wouldn't be involved. So I think that this was incredible. Just the the the the kids that that came here wanted to be here.
Amber Narro:Yeah. Yes. And I think that that's the challenge, right, is that that when you are in the community, one of the things that you have to do and that you're kinda bringing to this, this effort is understanding that it's a different place when you go back out into the community because not everybody's as interested as you are. Right? So let's talk about you guys for just a second.
Amber Narro:Tell me what tell me what you wanna be. What what's the next step for you beyond high school and beyond this experience?
Franklin Bradwell:Alright. So For now,
Amber Narro:by the way.
Franklin Bradwell:For now.
Amber Narro:For now. By the way.
Franklin Bradwell:Get it. I'll let Kenny go first. I've been talking a little bit too much.
Kenny Primus:Oh, no. No. Thank you. But no, you're you're doing amazing.
Amber Narro:He wants to be commissioner of agriculture. He's has worked with goats.
Kenny Primus:Oh, yeah.
Amber Narro:This man is experienced.
Kenny Primus:It it I will say, you know, my time, you know, at this camp has been awesome and being able to run for different, programs and parties and just being all over the map in terms of government wise. I will say, one of my, kinda goals, sorta goals is to possibly go to college for football.
Amber Narro:Okay.
Kenny Primus:And that class, my classes that I was planning on taking was somewhere close to engineering. But I will note that as I am going home, I will have to get to thinking on whether I want to continue my role in government because this camp has kinda shown a light to the the fruits of government and being able to sort of make a change.
Amber Narro:We need you, Kenny.
Kenny Primus:Oh, yeah.
Amber Narro:We need good men for sure.
Franklin Bradwell:Thank
Amber Narro:you. Indeed. And women too, by the way.
Kenny Primus:Absolutely.
Amber Narro:I'm a representative. Yeah.
Franklin Bradwell:So His Girls' Day was here a week ago. Indeed. It was I heard lots of good things about it. We sent, like, 10 girls from our school, so it was, apparently, it was a it was a really good fun time.
Amber Narro:Indeed. Indeed. So government, like, are you talking kinda working into the city and and then maybe parish and then state and what's that government look like? I mean, give me the big dream.
Kenny Primus:So I would I I wouldn't really constitute as a big dream, but I would probably more say one step at a time if any.
Amber Narro:Yeah?
Kenny Primus:Yeah.
Amber Narro:Indeed. So get in there, get your feet wet, learn, and go on. And I I think that that's what I I I love that you're saying that because I think that sometimes people start with the end goal in mind and don't realize all of the huge steps that are in that. It's not just baby steps. It's going to really make a difference and really kind of and it's not just about building your resume, but building the community too.
Amber Narro:Right? So helping your community and being there. Tell me the thing you talked about being here, and and what inspired you as far as government is concerned. This week, What were those things that that you said, you know, this is kinda cool. This is feeling this shoe fits.
Kenny Primus:I'm glad you asked me that. I'll say one of my favorite things about being here was legislation. Okay. And that was when we were in the the chambers discussing on whether bills should be put forth to the senate and there was of course, you know, for the most part, it went smoothly, you know, we had bills where we let them pass, bills that, you know, we shot down. But all in all, it was pretty steady.
Kenny Primus:And then we got to a certain bill that had a whole lot of quirks to it. And so, at the initial time, we were about to vote it down for it not to be passed. But there were some good properties to that bill that, you know, were in good intent. And I believe that, you know, at first I was thinking we should, you know, break up the bill. And what had happened was we put a recess on it.
Kenny Primus:We put a pause on it for the next day and we actually came together with the parties that had made the bill and we sorted things out. We got to talking and over the course about of about maybe forty to an hour of minutes, we actually came up with a solution that worked for everyone.
Amber Narro:Well, I'm a need y'all to write a letter to some people for me.
Franklin Bradwell:Oh. Oof.
Amber Narro:I mean, y'all did something in a week that we can't get done in months and months.
Franklin Bradwell:Oh, no. Not over here. See, legislation was good for some, but for others, was
Amber Narro:was pretty face you made Yes. Just a second ago. Tell me about your bill. Tell me I'm just the bill. Tell me about your bill.
Franklin Bradwell:That song. We were listening to that while writing. You
Amber Narro:have to.
Franklin Bradwell:You
Amber Narro:have to. So you remember.
Franklin Bradwell:It was a good time. Lots and lots of disagreement, but that's what that's what writing bills are about.
Amber Narro:You tell me what it was? It's not a secret,
Franklin Bradwell:is My bill?
Amber Narro:Yeah. What what did you fail? How did you fail?
Franklin Bradwell:It is I actually succeeded.
Amber Narro:Oh, okay.
Franklin Bradwell:It was a it was
Amber Narro:the first You just had to fight it out,
Franklin Bradwell:It was the first unanimous decision that that everybody put together. Oh, Because after three violent felonies, you another twenty years is added through the the last sentence. So if you commit three crimes that cause harm to other people, you have your sentence extended because you have shown that you are not open to change.
Amber Narro:Okay. Alright. Sounds sounds like there was a lot of arguing that probably went on to try to get it going, but I you you got a little queasing going there.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, ma'am.
Amber Narro:Yes, ma'am. You had a little a little remembering of this where it's a little painful for you.
Franklin Bradwell:I tried to make it as agreeable and as, you know, straight to the point as possible, but the the people found a way to to make it even longer. That was probably the longest bill that that it took about. It took about an hour thirty.
Amber Narro:Sounds like it was worth it though. Yes,
Franklin Bradwell:was. It was. I'm I'm very proud of the people, of my house that that put that together.
Amber Narro:Kenny, tell me about one of yours.
Kenny Primus:So I'll tell you about the bill that I was talking about with all the quirks and kinks. It it'll take a sec.
Amber Narro:That's okay.
Kenny Primus:But what it delved down into, at first, whenever it came to us, it had three parts. One part of it was dealing with the exports of the Mississippi River all the way down to Louisiana and so the plan was for the bill was that we would increase the exports to 25% which was an outrageous number at the start. But, it just we found a way to bring it down because 25% would have been very very disastrous for like a lot of people in the surrounding area of Louisiana as well as the business owners that would have moved exports down through Mississippi. So, we we we all found a way to kinda take care of that and to mitigate it into uh-uh time where bringing it up 5% and then extending the time in which that would take place was about I believe five years to seven years And then the second part of the bill was SNAP, food stamp card. And so the original goal of the bill for SNAP was that, people would, once you're disqualified from SNAP.
Kenny Primus:So, what SNAP is, if you don't know, SNAP is designed for low income families who struggle to support their kids with feeding them meals and such. And so what it does what it does is it gives you, kinda stamps to put towards food. But if you make a certain amount over your yearly salary, it doesn't just go from even if it's like a thousand dollars a year over or something small, you immediately get dropped from SNAP, as many of you all know, and you have no benefits. Which sucks for those who want to seek pay increases and wanna get themselves out of, you know, out of the lower class pay range, but in turn of moving towards the middle class, you get put down and you kinda have to go through the muck before you can kinda resalight. So, what we decided was that for this bill to pass instead of, you know, programs to which, at first it was a little crooked, but we got it to where, instead of a pay drop like that, instead of 100 to zero, we decided that for every for the course of a year, every three months, it would go from 100% to 75% to 50%, 25% of the benefits of SNAP.
Kenny Primus:And then, after a year, you would be, let go but through a gradual decrease of funds towards the person.
Amber Narro:Okay. Mhmm. I like it.
Franklin Bradwell:None of ours were that thought out. I'll say
Kenny Primus:that was one of our mower thought out bills. That took about two days for us to kinda, you know, get all the kinks out. And actually, that was the last bill we passed today. We had to we we had all the, amendments written down and we had to kinda scramble for time because we were in the last six minutes of, legislative session.
Amber Narro:Yeah. I love it. I love it. Yeah. Alright.
Amber Narro:The experience here obviously has been wonderful, and you're gonna remember this for the rest of your life. I'm just gonna say that both of you. You're gonna remember this until you're gonna talk to your grandkids about But how what was the road to get here? How did you earn your spot in Boise State?
Franklin Bradwell:For me for me it was offered. We were we were sitting in AP US history and the teacher said, oh, who all wants to go to Boise State? No explanation. I had to find that out on my own. It was it was simply offered to me, but I like to take as many opportunities as I can.
Franklin Bradwell:So I look further into it and I got a spot. This was May, early May, first week of May.
Amber Narro:So this was just a minute ago then. Yes. Very good. Okay.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, no and we got everything put together. The program is extremely thought out so it tells you what to bring, what not to bring, what to expect but it does it all without explaining what you're really doing. Mhmm. It it was it was almost a secret before we got here. Most of us came in here and didn't know exactly what we were doing, but, you know, it was
Amber Narro:Well, think it's hard to it's hard to explain and hard to understand unless your boots are on the ground. Right? Yes. So because I think the general the I think our general public probably knows about Boise State. It is an opportunity for students to kinda go learn that government process.
Amber Narro:Right? We we kinda understand that from that bird's eye view, but we can't really experience it until we're here. You know, we talk about students being able to go to the legislature, and a lot of them don't understand that they can just go. You know? You can go as long as you don't have anything sharp in your pocket or in or explosive.
Amber Narro:You can walk into the legislature and you're you can go sit in on a committee meeting. You can pull a card and go talk about something as well, your experience and how it affects you. I mean, I've seen things like stop signs make people go nuts in that legislature. So there are small things and big, huge things like you're talking about I mean, SNAP benefits is a big deal. Right?
Amber Narro:And when you're talking about cutting people's benefits, you're not just talking about that individual, but you're talking about their children and maybe parents who live with them, you know? So it's it's a big deal when you start considering those things. Kenny, what was your experience like earning your way to big to Boys State?
Kenny Primus:Oh, I'll say I was I came into the counselor's office one day and the counselor, shout out Miss Leah Malaire at Fallon Bleu High School.
Amber Narro:There you go.
Kenny Primus:She offered me an opportunity to go to Boys State and at first I wasn't I was unfamiliar with Boys State. I didn't know a thing and you know, at first II didn't understand how big of an opportunity this was and I'm thankful that I was able to take upon this opportunity to come here and to kinda kinda take advantage of the program and what they have to offer. So, yeah, it's it's been awesome. It's been great.
Amber Narro:Let's definitely take this opportunity to thank some folks who got you here, right? Obviously, your families, you know, supporting your your trip here and making sure that this is possible for you, but also those counselors at school. Thank you for name dropping. You got somebody you wanna thank?
Franklin Bradwell:I'd like to thank my, my AP US history teacher because, you know, she's
Amber Narro:Give me an A.
Franklin Bradwell:Very, very nice woman, Sammy Dunn. Miss Sammy Dunn.
Amber Narro:Very good.
Franklin Bradwell:Love her to death. I've had her for the past six years, and I'm really excited to, get rid of her.
Amber Narro:She challenges you.
Franklin Bradwell:She's been she's been saying she's gonna retire forever. But I really appreciate her for bringing up the opportunity for me to
Amber Narro:She cooked your dinner, didn't she?
Franklin Bradwell:Yes.
Amber Narro:Yes, she did. Yes. Yes, she did. Thank you, miss Dunn. We appreciate Yeah.
Amber Narro:Miss Therese is mine. She's she's still up in La Ronde. She knows she knows I I talk about her and doctor Morando here at Southeastern when I was a student wore me out and goodness gracious. So I appreciate you guys for sharing your experience today and telling me how this has shaped you. What are you gonna bring back when people ask you about your experience?
Amber Narro:How are you gonna explain what you've learned here to siblings, to parents, to how do you explain it, Kenny?
Kenny Primus:Oh, I'll go. I'll go. So, bringing it back, honestly, I was thinking about this the whole trip, but one thing I'll say that I'm excited to bring back is just that one person, it just takes one person to bring about change. It it takes one person to speak up.
Amber Narro:Thank you.
Kenny Primus:And yeah, it take what I've noticed at this trip, one person to, let's say, shout, our chants that we would walk by. Yes. Takes one to chant. It takes one to propose a bill.
Amber Narro:Okay.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes.
Amber Narro:The voice can be heard, right?
Franklin Bradwell:Voice can be heard.
Amber Narro:Indeed.
Franklin Bradwell:And, during my entire election process, I always fought for the voice of the people to be heard. I fought for communication between the people and the and the power and, really making the people the power. But the things that I'm going to take home aren't, you know, the the bills that we passed. It's not the the academics that we sat in on. It's the people that I met and the opportunities I had to express myself.
Franklin Bradwell:We did a volleyball tournament. We did a dodgeball tournament. Tonight, we are, coming up with parish songs. Come here.
Amber Narro:I'm calling up one of your counselors right now. So you did parish songs. Yes?
Franklin Bradwell:We did parish songs and, all of the chants representing your parish, it's something that I will remember for a very, very long time.
Amber Narro:Fantastic. I brought up one of your counselors and staff Micah Scott from Zachary to kinda talk to me about the week and tell me about this group in particular. Is this your first time with Boys State?
Micah Scott:Oh, no. Okay. So you've
Amber Narro:been here a minute. Alright. I'm gonna turn your mic down because you're loud like me. So you didn't get my volume on it. So tell me about your experience with this group in comparison to others that you've had in the past.
Amber Narro:And let's brag on these guys a little bit.
Micah Scott:Yeah. No. I mean, so this is my eighteenth program actually since I started as a counselor.
Amber Narro:Well, how old are you? I mean, not for real, but you don't look old enough to have eighteen
Micah Scott:years in. Honestly. Yeah.
Amber Narro:So Very good.
Micah Scott:And so I can honestly say that every group's a little bit different. And they're all wonderful. Obviously, we get the best and brightest from all over the state consistently. But this group's been great. This is our second year here at Southeastern, and so we've got Thank
Amber Narro:you for letting us borrow y'all. We love this. We love it.
Micah Scott:And we love being here. But no, this group has been really good. They've really gelled together really well in their cities and parishes and have had a really awesome cast of characters that have run First Aid Office. Obviously we've got two with us here today, but a lot of the things that we're hearing from our counselors is that a lot of the energy that we used to have is really back. And that's due in part a lot to the citizens buying in to the system that we've set up, which is elaborate, we'll say.
Micah Scott:But it's been really great. They've they've really enjoyed the experience with us.
Amber Narro:Fantastic. When you are kinda getting your crew together and and you start on the first day, first day, last day, if parents are starting to think about if their their children are nominated or approached for this opportunity, what do you talk to parents about and tell them that their their kids are gonna get to experience in this week?
Micah Scott:Yeah. Absolutely. Our intent is to really educate their citizens. There's sorry. We we call them citizens, so it's just in my in my Lexington.
Amber Narro:Absolutely. That's okay.
Micah Scott:But but to really educate their young men differently than what they're experiencing at school. Right? We they could go to lectures all summer and that would just be school again.
Amber Narro:Yeah.
Micah Scott:But, you know, if you asked any of our counselors what our program is about
Amber Narro:Well, they've learned all this in school, haven't they? Exactly. They've learned the civic stuff. They've under they've they've heard how to build what comes to law and every but until you get your boots on the ground, you don't get it.
Micah Scott:Yeah. So so we always say we've got two things, two twin objectives for our program. One Yeah. Is that we have a responsibility to teach them about state government. That's sort of in our founding.
Micah Scott:That's the the reason that the American Legion started the Boys State Program in the first place was to be able to teach them about state government. And through that, we have the opportunity to make them better young men. And so generally speaking, the guy that you get back at the end of our week is gonna be different than the guy that you brought us in the first place as they experience both of those two things throughout the week, honestly.
Amber Narro:Tell me about some of the people that you've counseled in the past and what their paths have been maybe since this program and and and some of the people that you put up on the wall and say these are our guys.
Micah Scott:Yeah. It's certainly been a journey. We have a lot of really great people who've come through our program And a lot of them stick around and become counselors and around for much longer. You know, some of them are behind me.
Amber Narro:Is that y'all? Y'all participate? Okay. Yeah. I'm get I'm getting the amen from Ricky Bryant and Jacob Cheatwood who are who are sitting in the back.
Micah Scott:Yeah, but I think that it would probably be a misconception to say that everybody ends up in government or something afterwards. But the reality is we have a lot of really smart people who are attorneys or who are doctors or who are nurse anesthetists or any number of things that are making a real impact in their career. And they really got this sort of leadership sandbox within Boys State over a period of years to really grow and develop their skills, which in a lot of ways has advanced how they operate in their careers because they were able to kinda do this first and see what this is like and set up a system and interact with people differently.
Amber Narro:You talk about that leadership sandbox. Give me some give me some skills specific there.
Micah Scott:Yeah. One, public speaking, obviously which these guys just went through. Because for us, when you come to a Boise State program, from minute one, you're getting thrown into that space. So they get out of the car somewhere between eight and eleven on Sunday morning, and by about dinner time, they're having an election where they're getting elected to a city or parish office with their peers. So they're writing speeches at 04:00PM.
Micah Scott:And they're gonna do that basically for the first day and a half to get everybody into a job. So public speaking's You know, they've talked about writing bills together, so that coalition building, that compromise skill is one thing they're really getting because we're putting in situations where they have to work with each other. It's kind of a fluke actually that Franklin knows his opponent for for the governorship because we very intentionally randomize where they all get placed in their cities and parishes to to try to keep them away from people that they already know. Because we want them to engage differently with the people that they they don't know and learn them quickly, understand how to make compromise and and put things together. So it's definitely that skill as well.
Micah Scott:We we talk to them specifically about, you know, disagreeing well. Mhmm. We don't really Public discourse, man. Yeah. We don't need them to agree with each other.
Micah Scott:That's fine. That's not the expectation. The expectation is that they they disagree in a way that makes sense. Mhmm. That they have actual reasoning for their opinions and their thoughts they're bringing to the table so that someone else can actually hear them.
Micah Scott:Those are important things that a lot of times are lost in greater society. So we wanna start them off here that way. So it's definitely that. And it's also a little bit of perseverance as well, as they can attest to as well. It's a tough week.
Micah Scott:We are awake for very long periods of time.
Kenny Primus:Yes.
Micah Scott:So our program is generally active from about 07:30 in the morning to about 10:30 or eleven at night, if not longer.
Amber Narro:Love it.
Franklin Bradwell:10:30 if you're lucky.
Micah Scott:They're trying to send them to bed earlier for the last two nights and they have not acquiesced to that.
Amber Narro:Well, they want the experience. Isn't that great for you though? Mean, I know it is. The I I've done study abroad with groups and brought students to conference and things like that. And some of the best moments of those trips are, you know, those ten thirty moments when they are, you know, they're at their best and then have had a great day and are are really using those times to bond with each other.
Amber Narro:So that's that's wonderful. And I appreciate as a communication professor, I I totally appreciate you saying that it's important for them to hear because I think we often hear people say use your words Yeah. But not often use your ears. Mhmm. Right?
Amber Narro:I appreciate that so much. When, when these students, when these young men go back to their hometowns and they bring this experience back to, to to the people that they will one day represent. Tell me what what the what the parents have said in response to them coming to this event as well. I'm encouraging parents.
Micah Scott:What did what did you do to my child? He slept for twelve hours. But truly, when I say that they get a different student back than the one they gave us, we've heard that consistently over years. We tend to do a parent survey afterwards just to kinda get some of those thoughts, so we understand that. And a lot of them really feel like their student has progressed and matured even in that one week time period.
Micah Scott:Just grown up a little bit, you know? Yeah. Because they're sort of forced to make their own decisions and choices in a space that, you know, it's a safe sandbox. But still, I mean, we set the meal times and we set the schedule, but the things that they're doing inside that sandbox are things that they're doing, not that we're doing for them. So we get a lot of those two comments, pretty regularly, which which we enjoy.
Micah Scott:Thank
Amber Narro:you. That's Micah Scott. He is a staff member with the Boys State. Tell me your official position.
Micah Scott:I'm a staff member for operations with Boys State.
Amber Narro:Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I've been here talking with Franklin Bradwell from, Mendon, Louisiana. He's governor elect.
Amber Narro:He's going to be sworn in tomorrow. Yes?
Franklin Bradwell:Yes, ma'am.
Amber Narro:That is correct. Last act act here, and thank you for serving in that capacity on behalf of the rest of the citizens of the state of Louisiana, we appreciate your service and your
Franklin Bradwell:Yes ma'am.
Amber Narro:And running for that and and taking on that challenge, we appreciate you. And also acknowledging your opponent, for sure, in That's a nice
Franklin Bradwell:part of it.
Amber Narro:Be nice people.
Franklin Bradwell:Yes ma'am, it doesn't matter if I'd known him forever or if I met him yesterday, you know, it's it's all about, like you said, disagreeing,
Amber Narro:Well.
Franklin Bradwell:Well.
Amber Narro:Yeah.
Franklin Bradwell:Me and I disagree because, you know, we're running against each other, we can't agree, And we we did agree on most things. We wanted the people to have the power.
Amber Narro:Mhmm.
Franklin Bradwell:And our platforms were almost the exact same, but it's I I said this in a in a speech earlier in the in the week. I said, your platform isn't everything. What you're offering isn't everything. Your execution is. If you offer the world, but you can't give the world, you're less than.
Franklin Bradwell:You you've you've set a too high of a standard for yourself. So that's what I that's what I live by. And I I I appreciate him. If I would've lost, I would've praised him just as much as I am now.
Amber Narro:Very good.
Franklin Bradwell:He deserves it.
Amber Narro:Nice work, nice work Franklin. So you obviously had to run for your position as well?
Kenny Primus:Yes ma'am.
Amber Narro:Yes? Fantastic. Tell me about that experience for you, Kenny, as we're going out, and then I also want you, if you don't mind, just thank your counselors for me too. Let them know how awesome they are.
Kenny Primus:Oh, absolutely. I'll say that campaigning against my opponent. I say opponent but behind the scenes, I mean, we're all just friends here. I'll say
Amber Narro:that. Sure.
Kenny Primus:Yeah. Shout him out. Charles Gilcrease. Yeah, Charles Gilcrease. He he awesome guy.
Amber Narro:Do you know where he's from? Oh. Oh, that's okay. Oh, okay. Kathy.
Amber Narro:Very good. So, Baton Rouge,
Kenny Primus:Yes, ma'am. Excellent. Central. Yeah.
Amber Narro:Yeah.
Kenny Primus:Uh-uh it was awesome getting to run against him and honestly, campaigning and being able to you know work on my speeches. It it really it really the whole experience kinda just help to amplify who I really was because I I didn't really expect to be able to go this amount of distance and I just also wanna shout out my CJ, my JCs, and my PCs
Franklin Bradwell:really quick.
Amber Narro:I don't know what that means.
Kenny Primus:Oh, so junior council member.
Amber Narro:Okay.
Kenny Primus:And parish council.
Amber Narro:Okay. Good. I'm glad it wasn't obvious.
Kenny Primus:Yes. Yes.
Franklin Bradwell:So the
Micah Scott:No. There's lot of lingo inside the system that you that you might miss
Franklin Bradwell:The counselors, the junior counselors, and the parish counselors, they are the ones that interact with the kids. Know, these these I I absolutely adore these counselors, but they sit back. They make sure that everything runs well.
Amber Narro:Alright, Kenny. Mhmm.
Franklin Bradwell:But the JCs and the PCs, they handle, you know, keeping the kids in line, keeping them doing this the right thing, and we appreciate them so much. I I appreciate, all of the JCs and the the best PC from Mississippi Parish. Debatable.
Amber Narro:Alright. Go on.
Franklin Bradwell:We can we can get into that later.
Micah Scott:Yeah. There's there's certainly some ravel over here, but if you've seen all week kind of the guys running around.
Amber Narro:I'd love to see the disagreeing well.
Franklin Bradwell:Oh.
Amber Narro:Happening.
Kenny Primus:I'll I'll shout out PC stanga.
Amber Narro:There you go. There you go.
Micah Scott:Yeah. And we wanted to make sure as well that, know, not necessarily possible without the wonderful people at the American Legion who started this program in Louisiana eighty six years ago. Yes.
Franklin Bradwell:Love that.
Amber Narro:Love the organization, and thank you for all that they do for the community for sure. And we appreciate you guys for sure. The PCs and the JCs for sure. And how much you have poured into be you have a you have a choice on the things that you do over the summer and who you work with and what you do. And pouring into these gentlemen, we appreciate you guys for what you do and what y'all bring, to the spirit of of these young men.
Amber Narro:And I feel like we're in good hands. Feel alright. I'm getting older. I need people like y'all to come and protect me. So thank y'all.
Amber Narro:I appreciate you.
Kenny Primus:Absolutely.
Amber Narro:And thank you for choosing Southeastern. We appreciate that as well.
Franklin Bradwell:Thank you so much for having us.
Amber Narro:Indeed. And they walked in yesterday when I was finishing off a a with doctor Drake here on campus, and several of the students were kinda listening to what we were doing. We actually I sat her back down and rerecorded the end so that they could watch a show in action. But, Tanisha Drake is one of our, first year success, instructors here on campus, so she was a great sport. So I wanna shout out to her and say thank you for making this possible for us today.
Amber Narro:I I loved talking to you guys and getting to learn a little bit about what you've done this week and learn about the program. So I appreciate that. I haven't had this opportunity to really sit down and talk about this program before. So I appreciate that very Thanks
Franklin Bradwell:for having us. Appreciate so much. We appreciate, Southeastern Louisiana for letting us use their facilities.
Amber Narro:Indeed.
Franklin Bradwell:And we appreciate all of the counselors for giving a week of summer to to make us better men.
Amber Narro:Indeed. Indeed. Well, there's a real awesome way that you can thank Southeastern. That's by sign, you know, we got applications and all kinds of things, so I'll recruit y'all right here in this space. I'm the director of the honors program.
Amber Narro:Come see me. Right? Thank y'all for coming. I appreciate you. Thank you very much.
Amber Narro:Franklin Bradwell, governor elect Kenny Primus from Mandeville. He's commissioner of agriculture for Boys State. So we appreciate you guys coming here, staying with us, and thank you for listening here at ninety point nine FM, The Lion. This is Amber Narro. We've been at the Lion's Roundtable today with Boys State.
Amber Narro:Y'all have a great day.
