Nathan Wang, an incoming senior at Shaker High School, has been selected as a senator for American Legion Boys Nation in the Washington, D.C. area, July 19-26.
Boys Nation is an annual American Legion program that includes civic training, leadership development and a focus on Americanism. Wang was previously elected governor at New York Boys State, which had roughly 900 participants. Wang will be joined by Connor Hunt, of Charles W. Baker High School, in representing New York at Boys Nation.
At Shaker, Wang is the founder of Shaker Junior Research and Mentorship Program, a new program to guide eighth-graders through the scientific process and to potentially qualify for Broadcom MASTERS, the national STEM fair. He is also serving as a machine learning consultant to his school’s engineering capstone program and has three years of experience in Lincoln-Douglas debate, including debating at the New York State Forensic League state tournament.
His honors include 2019 Intel ISEF Finalist; second grand prize and Mu Alpha Theta award for project with best implementation of math at the Greater Capital Region Science and Engineering Fair; and the Scientific American Award.
A resident of Loudonville, Wang hopes to attend MIT, Stanford University, or RPI, to pursue science research in the field of artificial intelligence and neuroscience.
During their eight days at Boys Nation, 100 senators will learn from a hands-on approach how the U.S. Senate and the federal government function.
Young men are divided into two political parties, the Federalists and the Nationalists, each of which conducts a party convention, sets a platform and nominates members for elected offices, including Boys Nation president, vice president and party leaders. Each senator will also write, introduce and debate a bill of his choosing before an appropriate Senate committee, and if successful at that level the legislation will be voted on by the whole Senate. Bills passing the Senate are later signed or vetoed by the Boys Nation president.
This year’s crop of Boys Nation senators represent the nearly 20,000 incoming seniors who attended the 50 annual Boys State programs. Famous Boys Nation alumni include former Pres. Bill Clinton, Govs. Chris Christie and Scott Walker, and Sens. Mike Lee and Tom Cotton. Notable Boys State alumni include Tom Brokaw, Michael Jordan, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Neil Armstrong, Roger Ebert and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
