Since 1935, the American Legion has hosted a civic engagement camp called Boys State, the goal of which has been to immerse high school juniors in the process of government as they’re given free rein to build a representative democracy from the ground up. Think Lord of the Flies meets AP U.S. History.

Notable past attendees include Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Samuel Alito, and Cory Booker, proof that, aside from looking good on a college application, that camp has been a formative experience for future political leaders. 

In recent years, the conference has become controversial in some circles for being, as one recent camper put it, “a conservative indoctrination camp.” Then in 2017, it made national news when the students at Texas’ annual Boys State voted for Texas to secede from the union.