Arkansas Boys State is different this year.
Elvis Vargas has been participating from the seat of a tractor while making holes in levees for rice fields.
But things can get noisy on his end of the iPhone.
"I put it on mute, and when they ask me to talk I try to talk as loud as I can," said Vargas, who recently graduated from Lake Village High School.
After being canceled last year because of the pandemic, Arkansas Boys State is being held virtually this week with people participating through computers and smartphones. The 2021 session began Sunday and will end today.
Some kids already have summer jobs, but Boys State is an opportunity they can't pass up.
"I'm trying to be as active as possible while I'm at work," Vargas said. "They appreciate the hustle. They like what I'm doing. I'm working and going to Boys State."
The Arkansas program is part of American Legion Boys State, an immersive civics program for select high school boys -- normally juniors -- across the country. Arkansas Boys State started in 1940. Alumni include former President Bill Clinton, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton.
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American Legion Auxiliary sponsors a separate but similar program for young women called Girls State. Arkansas Girls State also went virtual this week after being canceled last year. Girls State was held from Sunday through Tuesday.
Lloyd Jackson, executive director of Arkansas Boys State, said things are going "extremely well" this week.
Jackson said the teenage boys are very comfortable with the technology of virtual meetings.
"They were born into this environment," he said. "Gaming is what they do. They connect normally with people across the world. It's been fun to watch. Those high fives look different in this space. Instead, you're having hash-tags and memes in the background."
Jackson is assistant superintendent of school leadership at Kansas City, Mo., public schools.
This is his 21st year working with Arkansas Boys State. Originally from Texarkana, Jackson was a 1997 delegate to Boys State and a Boys Nation senator. Each state can send two senators to American Legion Boys Nation every year. When Clinton was a Boys Nation senator in 1963, he got to meet President John F. Kennedy.
"I was never quite the same after I went to Boys State and Boys Nation -- after I realized what government was, what its role in our life was, what citizens were supposed to do to make it work," Clinton has said. "I never took it for granted again."
Arkansas Boys State delegates said the virtual sessions are going well, but they miss some of the in-person camaraderie they would have had if Boys State were held like usual on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
"The level of human connection is just a little bit harder," said Samuel Creekmore, a student at Valley View High School in Jonesboro. "I've still been surprised with the level of connection I've been able to have with people. ... I still think it's been a good experience, and I'm getting a lot out of it."
Joe Rhee, a student at Little Rock Central High School, said previous classes at Boys State would wake up every morning and go outside for the flag-raising and Pledge of Allegiance.
They're doing that virtually now.
"We still do that but it seems a little different," he said. "I think I'm learning a lot. I'm hearing a lot of interesting lectures. ... I think we're not really losing anything in terms of content but maybe in the experience itself."
Kaleb Turner, a staff spokesman for Arkansas Boys State, said about 430 boys registered for this week's program, including 50 who were to attend last year but didn't because it was canceled.
Jayce Pollard, who recently graduated from Conway High School, was one of those.
"It was disappointed to say the least," Pollard said of Boys State being canceled last year. But he's been enjoying the sessions this week.
"Our counsellors have done a really good job at facilitating discussions," he said.
Huckabee said Boys State was "a seminal event in my life." He was elected governor of Boys State in 1972.
"I'm saddened that the program is virtual as a key dynamic is the relationship-building that happens in the process of the weeklong experience," Huckabee said. "I met many friends there who have remained friends for life. Many were people I appointed to various positions while in state government. One became my college roommate and officiated at my wedding. Many were key people in my various campaigns. ... I will forever be grateful to the American Legion for having a program like Boys State that emphasized Americanism, patriotism and public service."
His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is an alumna of Arkansas Girls State and a candidate for Arkansas governor.
Charlotte Wilson, director of Arkansas Girls State, said more than 400 girls participated in the virtual program this week. That's down from a usual 700 or so.
Wilson said many who didn't participate were probably suffering from Zoom fatigue after a year of remote learning.
But still, many others were enthusiastic about the opportunity to attend Girls State virtually.
"We were pleasantly surprised at how much the girls bonded through Zoom," she said, referring to a video communications application called Zoom.
Normally, it costs $250 to attend Girls State, but the price was dropped to $100 this year because the girls wouldn't be staying on the campus of Harding University in Searcy like they usually would, Wilson said
Girls State staff members and volunteers still went to Harding this week, and Boys State staff members and volunteers were at the "command center" at UCA.
Girls State speakers this year included state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock; state Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville; and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott.
Wilson said all of the female Arkansas Supreme Court justices prerecorded video addresses for the Girls State delegates.
Samia Smith of Little Rock Central High School was elected governor of Girls State for 2022.
Counts Shanks of Har-ber High School in Springdale and Elizabeth Gunderman of Fayetteville High School were selected as Arkansas' senators to go to Girls Nation.
Boys State speakers this year included Gov. Asa Hutchinson (in a prerecorded address) and U.S. Rep. French Hill, who participated virtually and answered questions.
Richard Ware of Hope was elected governor of Arkansas Boys State for 2022.
The graduated seniors attending Boys State elected Michael Finkenbinder of Dardanelle as their class of 2021 governor. Jackson said the boy elected governor one year comes back to Boys State the next year to serve in a leadership role.
Boys State will chose its senators for Boys Nation today.
Vargas said his ability to hear and be heard during the Boys State sessions improved dramatically Wednesday. After driving a tractor for two days, he started Wednesday as an intern with the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership in Lake Village.
Vargas said he plans to go to Arkansas State University-Beebe in the fall. He's going to study to be a John Deere service technician.
