American Legion Post 75, Gloucester, honored student participants of this past summer’s Boys State, Girls State and the Junior Law Cadet programs with a pizza dinner on Sept. 13. The programs are citizenship training opportunities sponsored by the American Legion.

Following dinner, participants Matthew Heimburger and Jordan Cheresnowsky spoke about their week-long course in government at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

Bill Kossler, spokesperson for Post 75, said the students learned about democratic government by actually operating one. He said the students established a mythical state patterned on Virginia’s—electing their own state, county and city officials and setting up their own legislative assemblies and city councils.

"They act as self-governing citizens for a full week," Kossler said. "Each delegate thus learns that he has responsibilities being a citizen, and that every act of government has some bearing on his own life, liberty and ...