Wesson American Legion sends four to Girls State

Special to Wesson News

Wesson American Legion sent (left to right) Caroline Strong from Copiah Academy and Maria Hall, Kate Norwood and Mary Margaret Woods, all from Wesson, to the state Legion’s Girls State last month.

The American Legion Drane Prine Post Unit 79 sent four young ladies from Copiah County the state Legion’s Girls State last month on the campus of Ole Miss. 

Caroline Strong from Copiah Academy and Maria Hall, Kate Norwood and Mary Margaret Woods from Wesson went for the first time with the help of the local Legion post, and Mara Norwood, Cailley Duplantis and Taylor Papazan, all from Wesson, returned as junior counselors to the special camp established by the state Legion in 1936 to provide female students, who just completed their junior year in high school with a intensive week studying responsible citizenship, government and leadership.

The Wesson Legion post chose the girls to attend based on their character, grades and community service. 

“I applied because I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about leadership and because I had heard all of the good things about girls state through my sister who attended,” said Kate Norwood. “My favorite part was meeting new likeminded girls who were the most genuine and kind people.”  She described the camp experience as “an incredible opportunity to learn so much about leadership and facing challenges, while also meeting new people who will become life long friends.”

Kate’s sister Mara explained her decision to return to the camp thusly: “I decided to go back and serve because of the people involved, hanging out with our veterans, and learning about the history, and developing my leadership skills.”