At the young age of 17, Morgan Hill resident Joshua Toch has already rubbed elbows with President Obama, Senator Dianne Feinstein and other senior officials of the United States Government in the nation’s Capitol.
Toch was selected to attend the American Legion Boys Nation 2013 – an annual conference in which 98 young leaders from 49 states receive an education on the structure and function of federal government – as a representative for the state of California in Washington, D.C. from July 19 to July 27. The trip was all-expense paid.
Along with one other boy from Southern California, Toch was chosen from among 1,041 attendees at the American Legion California Boys State 2013, which took place at California State University, Sacramento from June 22 to June 29, to attend Boys Nation.
“Being selected to attend Boys Nation is comparable to winning a mini-lottery,” Toch said. “I was awe-struck.”
The Boys Nation attendees act as a mock United States Senate. Each participant is required to submit for consideration a bill to the President of Boys Nation. A handful of those bills could be passed on to the President of the United States.
“We got to go to the White House and in the picture of us with President Obama, I am literally standing a foot behind him,” Toch recalled excitedly.
Toch personally submitted a bill that addressed cyberbullying.
“I think that everyone should have a fair chance at everything,” said Toch, who has mild cerebral palsy, which impacts his speech and fine motor coordination. “I was only bullied a little bit when I was a kid, but I know how those little sneaky comments people make can mean a lot to the person they’re directed at.”
Due to his active participation in anti-bullying campaigns and several programs with Morgan Hill Unified School District’s former Superintendent Wes Smith, the American Legion Post 217 in Gilroy nominated Toch for the honor of representing South County at Boys State. Toch was the first person ever to be sent from the Gilroy Post to attend Boys Nation.
In order to be selected for Boys State, Toch was first nominated by the faculty at Live Oak High School, where he will be the Associated Student Body Vice President during his senior year.
He then interviewed, along with other candidates, at the Gilroy American Legion Post 217. Toch and one other boy were selected to represent South County at the Boys State program in Sacramento, which has been around for approximately 80 years.
At Boys State, which helps youths gain an understanding of the structure and operation of the federal government, delegates elected Joshua Toch to be their Lieutenant Governor by the largest election majority in California Boys State history; 877-135 or an 87 percent majority. More people voted for Toch in the Lt. Governor’s election then voted for both candidates combined in the Boys State Governor’s election.
After being elected Lt. Governor, or second in command to the Governor, Toch became the acting Governor because the elected Governor was called away to Palm Springs to give a speech at the American Legion Convention. Toch ran the Boys State simulated government, held cabinet meetings and signed and vetoed bills.
“My cabinet of 40 people and I did a lot of thinking together,” Toch said. “I think about 10 bills that ended up getting sent to President Obama.”
In addition to his involvement with the American Legion and ASB, Toch works part-time as a busboy at Rosy’s at the Beach in downtown Morgan Hill and is an intern at State Assemblymember Luis Alejo’s field office. Toch has also recently been selected for the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, which he will attend from Aug. 4-9 at Mission Springs in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Toch said that post- high school graduation, he hopes to go into city management and then potentially politics.
“You know how a teenager’s mind changes every day over what they want to do with their lives,” Toch joked with the Gilroy Dispatch during an interview. “I 100 percent do plan to attend college, though.”
