WATERVILLE – The American Legion is accepting applications to attend to the 61st annual American Legion Dirigo Boys State program to be held on June 21 to 25 at Thomas College.

The purpose of Boys State is to provide Maine high school juniors with the opportunity to participate in a hands-on action program that supplements their high school courses in government.

Young men role-play as they learn to campaign for local, county and state offices, then organize and carry out the functions of the state government.

Instructors include town and city managers, town selectmen, judges, attorneys, members of the Maine House of Representatives and Senate, teachers, guidance counselors and others familiar with local, county and state government.

Boys State has a 40- to 50-piece band under the supervision of a musical director. Band members must bring their own instrument.

Any junior interested in learning about town and state government qualifies for Boys State. Priority is given to attitude versus scholastic achievement.

Three scholarships are awarded at Boys State. Two of the scholarships are for $500 and the third, the Samsung Scholarship, is $1,000.

Information and applications are available from local American Legion posts or by contacting state headquarters at 873-3229, [email protected] or www.mainelegion.org. Deadline for submissions is prior to May 15.