Sixty-eight rising high school seniors from Middlesex County are attending the 72nd session of American Legion Jersey Boys State (ALJBS) at Rider University.
The college credit-qualified conference, sponsored by the American Legion Department of New Jersey, has statesmen run their own mythical 51st state.
From June 18-23, the boys will have formed 18 mythical cities and two political parties to elect a mayor and city council to guide their city throughout the week. Each student had an opportunity to participate in the political party process by running for office, participating in friendly debate and voting in elections, among other events. By the end of the week, the delegation will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor and two Boys Nation senators, who will attend a national program in Washington, D.C. this summer.
Local students who are part of this year’s delegation include: Adnan Akbar, Iselin, Post 87; Jay Amin, East Brunswick, Post 25; Ethan Anthony, South River, Post 214; Ritik Bedi, Monroe, Post 522; Gerard Brown-Eckstein, Parlin, Post 211; Sean Carlucci, Edison, Post 65; Advith Chegu, Iselin, Post 471; Arun Chezian, Metuchen, Post 65; Benjamin Daniels, Edison, Post 324; Thomas Della Sala, Iselin, Post 471;
Jimmy Dhillon, Iselin, Post 87; Lucas Espada, East Brunswick, Post 25; Nicholas Florczak, East Brunswick, Post 25; Luke Fuller, South Amboy, Post 211; Dylan Gilligan, Sayreville, Post 211; Anthony Hein, Colonia, Post 87; Sanket Jain, East Brunswick, Post 66; Rushil Jani, Parlin, Post 211; Caelan Johnson, Metuchen, Post 65; Vivek Krishnam, Monroe, Post 348;
Anthony LeSaux, Edison, Post 2000; Giovanni Magee, Iselin, Post 471; Kanav Mahajan, North Brunswick, Post 25; Eshaan Mahapatra, East Brunswick, Post 25; Pranav Mallampalli, Monroe, Post 12; Scott Maran, Colonia, Post 228; Utkarsh Mashal, Edison, Post 324; Arjun Menon Jayakumar, Edison, Post 324; Nishant Nagalia, Monroe, Post 522; Kushal Negi, Monroe, Post 522;
Darsh Patel, Monroe, Post 458; Vasu Patel, Iselin, Post 471; Paran Patti, East Brunswick, Post 25; Bernard Pereda, North Brunswick, Post 25; Vladyslav Rachkovskyy, North Brunswick, Post 459; Sawyer Reis, Colonia, Post 3; Christopher Russo, Colonia, Post 471; Nikhil Sadaranganey, East Brunswick, Post 25; Sohil Shah, Edison, Post 75; Gursimran Singh, Monroe, Post 5000;
Sahil Singh, East Brunswick, Post 25; Patrick Smith, Sayreville, Post 211; Shiv Soin, Edison, Post 324; Mark Stanik, Edison, Post 324; Harshil Trivedi, Sayreville, Post 211; Russell Van Liew, Iselin, Post 87; Arthraj Vyas, Iselin, Post 471; and Nicholas Wong, East Brunswick, Post 25.