KU News Release

KU to host about 350 high school seniors for Sunflower Girls State June 1-6

LAWRENCE — About 350 high school seniors-to-be from throughout Kansas are expected to attend the 66th annual American Legion Auxiliary Kansas Sunflower Girls State June 1-6 at the University of Kansas. The opening assembly will be at 7:10 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at the Lied Center.

Delegates, sponsored by their local American Legion Auxiliary units, will focus on a weeklong study of government at all levels, national patriotic traditions, voting, volunteerism and women’s health and safety issues. Most sessions will be at the Lied Center and the Dole Institute of Politics. Flag-raising ceremonies will be at 8 a.m. June 2-6 at the Dole Institute, and flag retreats will be between 6:50 and 7:10 p.m. daily June 1-6.

Lori Reesor, associate vice provost for Student Success, will speak at the opening assembly. Helen Bolton of Manhattan, 2007 Sunflower Girls State governor, and Rachel Van Horn of Lawrence, 2007 Sunflower Girls State lieutenant governor, will share duties presiding at the sessions. Anne Werner of Axtell is director of Sunflower Girls State, and Jeanne Haas of New Strawn is assistant director.

During the week, delegates will campaign for state and county offices and hold general elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, commissioner of insurance and seven Supreme Court justice positions. Mary Christine Banwart, associate professor of communication studies, will speak on “Women as Political Leaders” at 7 p.m. June 2 at the Lied Center. Ron Thornburgh, Kansas secretary of state, will address the group and guests at inaugural ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. June 5 at the Lied Center.

On June 6, the delegation will travel to the Capitol in Topeka, where they will also be able to meet with other state officials. After returning to Lawrence later that day, participants will conclude Sunflower Girls State with an awards assembly at 3 p.m. at the Lied Center. At that time, scholarship winners and names of Kansas delegates to the 2008 Girls Nation July 19-26 in Washington, D.C., will be announced.

During the week, Girls Staters also expect to hear talks by Judge G. Joseph Pierron, Kansas Court of Appeals; Joan Wagnon, secretary of the Kansas Department of Revenue; state Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, and associate director of the Dole Institute of Politics; state Rep. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia; Rachel Willis, executive director, Kids Voting Kansas, Topeka; and LaVeta Miller, Larned, president of the Kansas Department of the American Legion Auxiliary. Throughout the week, participants will be able to meet with other state, county and city officials, including their home-district senators and representatives.

Dr. Mary McDonald, assistant professor of geriatric medicine at the Landon Center on Aging and in family medicine at the KU Medical Center, will speak on women’s health issues. Lisa Beardsley, a crime scene investigator with the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, will present a public safety program. Loring Henderson, executive director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, and Tracie Massey Howell, director of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center in Lawrence, plan to talk to Girls Staters on volunteerism. Also scheduled are Allison Koonce, school health project manager at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and Tami Larson, student nutrition manager for Midwest Dairy Council, on behalf of Kansas Action for Healthy Kids.

American Legion Auxiliary board members in addition to Werner and Haas who will be at KU are Bonnie Boyer, Shawnee; Lisa Dethloff, Hutchinson; Janice Stathas, Kansas City, Kan.; and Sarah Hummel, Tulsa, Okla. Hummel will also lead a “Dress for Success” program session.

Eight district chairmen from eight Kansas regions also helping are Carolyn Boeh, White City; Dorothy Haney, Salina; Dorothy Kimpler, Hutchinson; Pam King, Winfield; Lupe Lamas, Kansas City, Kan.; Bernadine Manning, El Dorado; Sharon Owen, Frankfort; and Lynette Stenzel, Ness City. Altogether, a volunteer staff of about 50 American Legion Auxiliary members and Sunflower Girls State alumnae will assist during the session.

Volunteers and delegates will stay in Ellsworth Residence Hall and will dine at Ekdahl Dining Commons, known as “Mrs. E’s,” atop Daisy Hill, which offers a three-story panoramic hillside view eastward overlooking Mount Oread.

Sunflower Girls State has been offered through the American Legion Auxiliary since its inception in 1939 at Washburn University in Topeka. The program moved in 1941 to KU, where it has been every year since except 1943 to 1946 because of World War II. American Legion Auxiliary units pay $250 to sponsor each delegate they select to attend Sunflower Girls State.

KU Continuing Education sponsors and coordinates Sunflower Girls State. Susan Elkins is program coordinator. For more information go to http://www.continuinged.ku.edu/leadership/sunflower/

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