When Elisa Lewis wears a Girls State shirt out in public, she gets comments.

Most often the comments are from someone proclaiming that they attended Girls State in the past.

Girls State is the equivalent to Boys State in which students who have just completed their junior years in high school are brought to the camp to learn about the basic principles of government.

Lewis attended Girls State in 1989 and said the camp was a life changing experience.

“It made me realize how we have a voice and how important it is to vote,” she said.

Lewis is now the director of Illini Girls State and from Sunday until June 21, Eastern will be home to about 450 new participants.

Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining, said Girls State has been here for a number of years.

Hudson said accommodating the large group and dividing them into residence halls has been smooth.

“We’ve got into a rhythm,” he said.

To teach the girls about government, the girls are put into cities and counties.

There are four cities in each of the five counties and elections are held on Monday to appoint people to offices like mayor, city treasurer and city clerk.

Tonia Pittman, Eastern coordinator for Illini Girls State, said this helps teach them about civic engagement.

“They leave with a better understanding of how our democracy works,” Pittman said. “(Also), they establish life long friendships with other girls from across the state and they learn a lot about leadership and people skills.”

Pittman has never attended Girls State, but last year was her first time coordinating the events.

“The staff was very welcoming and they taught me a lot about what IGS does,” she said. “It was a very cool experience.”

Lewis said another thing Girls State does is instilling patriotism.

One of the ways patriotism is instilled is through a morning ritual of singing the pledge of alliance and raising the flag.

“It’s a cool thing to salute the flag,” Lewis said.

Lewis said many people do not think it’s cool anymore, but at Girls State they are reminded of its importance.

The participants also learn what each fold of the flag represents.

Other traditions at Girls State include a Friday night banquet and numerous guest speakers.

The banquet is a formal event where some of the girls choose to wear prom or homecoming dresses.

Premier Boys State Representatives come to the banquet to make closing statements and two girls chosen as the delegates to attend Girls Nation will be sworn in.

As for guest speakers, Girls State brings in motivational speakers as well as politicians.

This year some speakers will include Illinois State Senator Carole Pankau, Sen. Dale Righter and State Representative Careen Gordon.

Lewis said Pankau is motivating to women and all the speakers inspire the girls to be active in the political process.

Righter will talk about what it means to be a republican and Gordon will talk about what it means to be a democratic.

Guest speakers are one difference between Boys State and Girls State.

“We tend to have more speakers,” Lewis said.

Kristina Peters can be reached at 581-7942 or at kmpeters2@eiu.edu.