How A Week At Boys State Can Change A Life

What happens when 320 talented juniors arrive at Ole Miss as strangers and leave as a functioning state government? We sit with assistant director Reed Overstreet to trace how Mississippi Boys State turns curiosity into competence with real campaigns, real responsibilities, and real stakes. Reed opens the curtain on a week built for growth: delegates are split into new “cities,” kept out of their comfort zones, and challenged to build platforms, win votes, and govern under tight timelines. The result is a true civics lab—less lecture, more practice—guided by staffers who have served in congressional offices, senate teams, and even the White House.

We walk through everything families and counselors need to know. Dates, applications, and cost are straightforward: $275 covers a full week of meals, housing, and two shirts, with little need for spending money. Safety is layered and specific: keycard dorm access, two staffers per city of about thirty, tight formations with count‑offs, campus police support, an on‑site clinic, and a program nurse who manages medications. Packing is simple—shorts or khakis with a belt, toiletries, shower shoes, towels, bedding—and yes, bring painter’s tape and banners if you plan to campaign. And if your student is set on running for attorney general on day one, keep the materials flexible; many discover a better fit once they see the field.

The payoff extends far beyond a single week. Boys State alumni form a living network that shows up later in city halls, courtrooms, and state offices. Scholarships amplify the impact: many Mississippi universities award aid simply for attending, with additional awards for top roles. Reed urges American Legion posts to leverage their trusted status to recruit, fundraise, and open school doors, because the right nudge can change a trajectory. Whether you are a counselor looking for high-impact leadership training, a parent weighing safety and value, or a student who wants to learn how government really works, this conversation lays out the why, the how, and the next steps.

If you found this helpful, follow the show, share it with a counselor or Legion member, and leave a review so more families can discover Boys State. Got a student in mind? Send them to msboystate.com and help light the spark.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Intro

Jerry Allhands 0:02

This is the Veterans Sound Off Podcast. I'm your host, Jerry Allhands, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. On each episode, we will visit with veterans and hear their stories and experiences. This week, we recently attended the American Legion Department of Mississippi's Midwinter Conference in Camp Shelby, Mississippi. We're at the Midwinter Conference in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Today I have the distinct pleasure and honor of meeting with Reid Overstreet from the Boys State program. Reid, how are you this morning?

Reid Overstreet 0:36

I'm good. It's a chilly morning. Trying to stay warm.

Jerry Allhands 0:41

Yeah. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about yourself. I know that you've been with the Boys State program for quite a while now.

Reid Overstreet 0:48

This will be my fifth year of Boy State. I do enjoy it. I currently serve as the assistant director. Um, I'm from a little town in the middle of nowhere. Went to Ole Miss.

Jerry Allhands 1:01

Yeah, that's a little town, Ole Miss.

Reid Overstreet 1:03

Yeah, somewhat. I I I go to Ole Miss. Um, and then I I'll graduate in May and take off into political consulting, but that's me. Wow. What's your major? My major is political science.

Jerry Allhands 1:15

They have a science for that?

Reid Overstreet 1:16

They do. Politics? You gotta study what people, why people make the decisions they make, man.

Dates, Growth, And Recruitment

Jerry Allhands 1:22

When you figure figure that out, would you let me know? Because uh man, it's I'm still trying. It's very complicated. Well, congratulations on the upcoming graduation with it, and and um wish you much success in everything that you do because I know you've been doing a great job with Boy State. Well, thank you. Let's talk about the Boy State program coming up this year.

Reid Overstreet 1:39

Uh, what's the dates on it? The dates will be May 24th through the 30th, I do believe. That's that last week of May every year. Um so far, everything's looking good. Leadership's been built, we're structured. Uh, we have application going live February 1st. We're excited. Well, last year we had our largest year post-COVID, which was a big deal for us. Um, we finally passed that 300 mark and got to 320 boys, um, which is a lot of boys. Um a lot of calories. It's a lot of calories, a lot of food, a lot of yelling, yeah, um, small talk. Um, everyone, everybody's making small talk, it gets real loud real quick. Um, but we we enjoy it. Uh we are structured and ready to go. Our staff application for our junior staff who were delegates last year. Theirs is their application's open live now, and now it's just recruiting, going to these counselors, convincing them that this is the program they want to send their kids to because it is life-changing.

Jerry Allhands 2:39

Well, let's talk about that for a second. Um, let's say there's a counselor who's listening to us for the first time, has no idea what boys state is. Tell us, what is boys?

Reid Overstreet 2:48

I would tell you it's the premier leadership program for the state. It changes boys' lives. They are going to come in and know nobody, and they are gonna be tasked with creating a government from city to statewide. And that sounds in theory, oh, okay, you just gotta set up a mayor's race and all these things, but these kids don't know each other. Yeah, they've got to build platforms and campaign, and they've got to build connections because we deliberately separate them from other people's from their areas. So when we take them into camp and we separate them out into what we call city groups, we make sure that they're not with somebody that they know. We want them to grow, to learn how to talk, to learn how to stand on their own feet, to campaign and build those connections that this program's gonna build. I mean, it built me connections and my roommate all the way through college I met at Boy State. This is the kind of connections it's gonna make, it's gonna make life, lifelong ones.

Jerry Allhands 3:44

So if a counselor is is hearing this and he's just got it, or he or she, excuse me, counselors, have um got an idea, basic idea of what Boy State is. What are you looking for in young men?

Reid Overstreet 3:55

You want somebody with leadership attributes. You want somebody that is involved in many other activities, and I like to say this, but you also want the person that you think could be a great leader. They're just struggling a little bit behind. Okay. I always say that because I have met so many people through this program who were not straight A students, who were fun people, who laughed a lot, who did this and that, but weren't super serious. And then they came to Boice State and it totally changed their entire trajectory of life. Okay. So you want somebody that you think this program would really inspire.

Who Should Attend

Jerry Allhands 4:35

Is it a a um a candidate?

Reid Overstreet 4:39

So someone who's more civics minded? Oh, definitely more civics minded. This is a civics program. We're gonna set up an entire government. You want somebody that is fascinated by the government or fascinated in how it works because this is the program that's gonna teach it through and through. And it's and the great thing about boy state is you have a senior staff at Boy State that work in these things. You have people that um work for congressmen's on staff, you have people that work for senators on staff, you have people that worked in the White House that work on Boy State staff. So that's what I'm saying. Like you're gonna have a wide array of characters. Okay. So the person you don't want at Boy State is somebody that cares nothing about anything that is just mully mully grug. You know, you ever heard that, like just drug out, doesn't care. You want somebody that you think would benefit for the drug. You're not gonna pick somebody and sponsor somebody that is not civics minded, that is, I like to say, uh brainless jock.

Applications And Cost

Jerry Allhands 5:44

So you don't want somebody just to occupy a seat. You want somebody really there. You want somebody that really wants to be there. Okay. Um giving an example there is is you have a student show up because his parents made him come. Right. You know, that's not the person you want. You want somebody who's got a fire in their s in their belly. Maybe maybe a little one.

Reid Overstreet 6:05

A little one that could be blown out into a Yes, a little fire is better than no fire. But I will say if somebody forces, if some parent forces their kid to come, like I I was just talking to this man back here in this room and he forced his grandson to go. Like didn't give his grandson an option. And I didn't know that his grandson is Xander, who works on staff with us. He forced his son to go and it changed Xander's life. And Xander's still working with us on staff. So I'm saying this program is that kind of program. Okay. Like you you give them the extra push and it'll it'll create a mile. But you do have to be involved. You you gotta come and get involved. Don't be a wallflower, you know. Yeah, don't be a wildflower. Right.

Jerry Allhands 6:44

Uh tell me about the the application process. How is that is that handled?

Reid Overstreet 6:48

So application process is pretty simple. All they have to do is go to our website, msboystate.com, and you'll see a big button that says apply now. As soon as you click that apply now button, it'll take you straight to our website. You'll fill out all the forms, and it'll be sent to the leadership. The leadership will then go through the application. Okay, this is the extracurricular they're involved in, this is where they're from, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we will approve or deny them. And once we approve them, they'll get an email and it'll have forms in it for them to fill out and turn back into us. That's like a medical compliance form. That is a uh American Legion Post form. That's where they come to you and confirm with you that they're going. And then um, we generally I think it's like a shirt form and something else.

Jerry Allhands 7:32

Okay.

Reid Overstreet 7:32

Um the cost to go to Boy State. It's $275. That's cheap.

Jerry Allhands 7:37

Yeah, really? For uh, was it five days, six days?

Reid Overstreet 7:40

They're there for a whole week. They come in on Sunday, they leave on Saturday.

What To Bring And Daily Life

Jerry Allhands 7:43

Wow. And I've seen you at the end of the week.

Reid Overstreet 7:46

Me?

Jerry Allhands 7:46

Yeah. One eye open, one eye open.

Reid Overstreet 7:49

Yes. It's a long week. I mean, I'm up generally till around midnight to 1 a.m. is when I get in the bed, and I'm up every morning at 5 30, 6 a.m. I've got to get my stuff together, and then morning formation for the boys is 7 a.m. sharp. So I've got to get my ducks in a row before they get up.

Jerry Allhands 8:07

All right, so the cost is $275 to go. How much would you suggest that a can a uh student take with them? Spending money.

Reid Overstreet 8:17

Spending money? Oh, they don't need any. Oh, come on. Um, I mean, you will the only spending money that you might need is buying t-shirts on the first day. Okay. Past that, we feed them breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you don't shop the whole program. We you're on a very structured schedule of speakers and events and sports and meetings. There is no downtime to buy anything. Okay. Clothing-wise. Clothing-wise, you will bring shorts or khakis and a belt. Um, and we will provide the shirt. We'll provide you two shirts. Um, any shirt past that you'll have to purchase. And I believe if they haven't gone up since last year, I haven't looked at that number, but it was like $10 a shirt.

Jerry Allhands 8:58

Okay. I strongly encourage you to get extra shirts.

Reid Overstreet 9:02

Yes.

Jerry Allhands 9:02

Hundred degree days in the show.

Campaigning And Choosing Offices

Reid Overstreet 9:04

It's very hot and you're going to be doing a lot of laundry, but included in your $275 fee as two shirts included, and then everything past that you'll purchase. But bring your shorts, bring your um toiletries, um, shower shoes, towels, bedding, because you'll be in a twin-size bed, uh, and any if you want some water bottles for your room or anything like that, for your you'll have a mini fridge and a microwave there. But um other than that, you won't really need anything. Okay. Oh, campaign materials. Now that's a big one I did not mention. So campaign materials, you are allowed to put up on the first day as soon as you get there. They will be banners. Um, generally we say like no yard signs or anything like that, because we get an issue every year with the university over them. But you are allowed to put up with painter's tape any banners or anything inside the dorms that you would like.

Jerry Allhands 9:59

Okay. Um should a student come prepared to run for office? I mean, have they already made up their mind or do you see?

Reid Overstreet 10:08

A lot of students, a lot of delegates will come to the program and they're like, I'm running for mayor, I'm running for attorney general. Okay. Uh, but here's the problem with that is they get there and every year of those, I'd say only 20% of those kids that came running for attorney general are actually gonna run. Because they get there and they meet other and they see other avenues and other things that they want to do and they go for those. So I say if you're gonna come ready to run, I say on your pamphlets, just don't put what you're gonna run for. Elect blah blah blah in your picture or your handy slogan, just leave the blank open and you can fill in and decide what you're gonna run when you get there.

Jerry Allhands 10:48

I like that idea. Yeah, might might want to be president someday. Not too late.

Reid Overstreet 10:53

Um parents' concerns, uh safety. Old Miss is extremely safe. And um, your son will be surrounded by two staffers at all times that are responsible. So we we divide those kids in about a 30 people city. Okay. And in that 30 people city, there will be two staffers that are responsible for look laying eyes on them at all times. Uh, above that, there's an entire leadership that is constantly moving with the group. We move in single file lines. We do formations, and formations are very important for the program. And most people are like, why do we have to do these all the time? But that's the time for we do count-offs. We know how many people are in the city, and we confirm that we have all our boys when we move from event to event. Your kid will constantly be watched. The campus is completely safe, the campus security um and the campus police is all over campus. And I mean, this is Ole Miss, and we're in a dorm, so it the only way you can get in the dorm is your key card and it has to be programmed. So what I'm saying is it's very safe.

Jerry Allhands 11:55

Okay, how about medical? How's how is that medical?

How Legion Posts Can Help

Reid Overstreet 11:58

So Ole Miss is where they're very thankful that they have an on-site clinic for basic needs, uh, such as cold, cough, um, if you're sick or not feeling well, or if you think you sprained something, we we are able to take you there. They give us approval for that. So we can use the on-site clinic. We also have an on-site nurse that travels with the entire program throughout the week that will be there to handle those facilitations. And if we do deem it necessary for to have to go to the hospital, then we will escort that delegate to the hospital.

Jerry Allhands 12:29

So they do a medical form in the process. Correct. Okay. Uh is the medication kept in with the student or is it with a nurse or the all medication is kept with a nurse and you go to your nurse.

Reid Overstreet 12:40

Okay.

Jerry Allhands 12:40

Awesome. Uh, once again, where where what's the website address for MSboystate.com.

Reid Overstreet 12:48

That's just too easy. It's so easy.

Jerry Allhands 12:49

Msboystate.com. Correct. All right. Uh what do you need uh for American Legion sponsors? How how do they get involved with you?

Reid Overstreet 12:58

American Legion's for the best way to get involved is recruit boys with this program. Okay. You're in a very great spot to be able to go to these schools as a very trusted individual. The American Legion is a very trusted veterans organization. You walk in and you go, I want to talk to your principal or your counselor if they're available. And generally they're very excited to speak with me when I've gone and done recruitment before.

Jerry Allhands 13:18

Well, you're easy to talk to.

Reid Overstreet 13:19

You go in and you talk to them, you enjoy, just have good conversation about the program and how it really does change kids' lives. And this program has been around for a very long time and has a very reputable past. And just talk about how this would benefit them. And not only this, you can also mention the scholarship and how most schools offer, like I went to Ole Miss on a $2,000 a semester scholarship from Boy State. $2,000 a semester.

unknown 13:46

Wow.

Long‑Term Benefits And Alumni

Reid Overstreet 13:47

I got $4,000 for Boy State for going. So I'm saying is you also throw that in there. Yeah. You're paying $275 to get that big amount of scholarship. You know what I mean? So just for going to Boy State? Just for going. And then every the governor gets like $5,000 from the university. Like there's a lot of money and scholarships involved in this program as well. So just go talk to them and recruit these boys to this program. And even if you can't, your post can't sponsor these boys specifically and pay the $275 for five boys to go. I'm saying I know money's tight. Hold fundraisers, hold a pancake breakfast, um, sell raffle tickets. Like y'all get into it. Have fun with these kids. And this is gonna be a great, this is a great opportunity for you to get involved in those kids' lives.

Jerry Allhands 14:34

What's the long-term benefit to a delegate for going to Boys State?

Final Details And Closing

Reid Overstreet 14:38

I know they're long term, they're gonna meet people that they're gonna see throughout their career for the rest of their life. I see people constantly. I I went to a fundraiser last week in Jackson, and I was going through the crowd, and I thought saw my mayor from my delegate year there with his girlfriend, and we like chatted and talked. We couldn't believe to see each other. You're these people are the people that are coming to this program are very bright minds and they're going places. And you're gonna see people in this program like our governor, current governor, was a boy state delegate. Our governor Reeves. Governor Reeves was a boy state delegate. Um Chad White was a delegate. Um I'm trying to think of other people. I believe Andy, Andy Gibson was a delegate. Um, and then he went to law school with um Hiram, I think. Had to be a lawyer, huh? Yeah, had to be a lawyer. What I'm saying is you're gonna see these people throughout your life. And it it and it's also gonna teach you a level of uh uh understanding of the government that you didn't know you had you did that you can't learn in school. Okay. But it puts it puts school to practice, theory to practice. I like that.

Jerry Allhands 15:43

Hey, I really appreciate your time today. I know that you're you've got a lunch date with us. I know. So that's coming up. Um looking forward to seeing you again at Ole Miss this year. Uh are we gonna be there again next year?

Reid Overstreet 15:53

We will we sign, I believe, a three-year contract. So I believe we'll be there for the next three years. Ole Miss.

Jerry Allhands 15:59

Hot it. I have a granddaughter going to Mississippi State next year. So I'm sorry. So sorry. Her dad's really giving her a hard time, but I like that. Hey, uh any last words for us on the program?

Reid Overstreet 16:16

Um, get involved, um, change some kids' lives. Um, you'll be better and they'll be better for it.

Jerry Allhands 16:22

Okay.

Reid Overstreet 16:23

We appreciate you very much. Thank you. Yes. Look forward to seeing you soon. Thank y'all for everything I'll do.

Jerry Allhands 16:28

This series is made possible through the financial gifts of people just like you. If you'd like to help us, please show your support simply by clicking on the dollar symbol in the upper right hand corner of this page and follow the instructions thereafter. Be sure to leave me a message when you do, and I'll give a shout out to you in an upcoming episode. Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Veterans Sound All podcast with Jerry All Hands. It's a production of All Hands Media LLC, all rights research.