River View senior stands out at Buckeye Boys State

WARSAW – It was 8 a.m. when River View High School senior Trevor Wine found himself driving alone to a place he had never been and where he wouldn't know anybody.

He started a three-hour drive to Bowling Green State University on June 14 for this year's American Legion Buckeye Boys State, and though he didn't know it yet, those seven days at BGSU would change his life.

"At first, I was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to like this.' I'm coming here by myself. I had to miss some football camp, and I wasn't too thrilled about that," Wine said. "But leaving ... our motto was 'a week to change a lifetime.' And it was exactly that: It was definitely a week to change a lifetime."

Buckeye Boys State is a weeklong experience that brings 1,200 Ohio high school students to BGSU for a chance to learn how the government is run.

The group of students was broken up into 28 cities, with each student having to campaign for a position in the government.

Because of Wine's interest in and mind for math, he decided to run for treasurer of his city. Although he admitted it was weird campaigning to people he didn't know, he was eventually named the city's treasurer.

"When everybody got there, we got to meet in our lobby and I was the kid by the door going, 'Hi, my name is Trevor, and I want to run for city treasurer. Think about me,' " he said.

That ability to easily talk to people he didn't know is something Wine has always had, and it helped him this time.

The three-sport athlete — football, basketball and baseball — credited sports as the reason he is so vocal.

"Being able to participate in three sports, I'm very vocal," Wine said. "I like to take charge, I like to lead the kids. If I could do it again, I would probably go for a bigger spot like the mayor or somebody that could lead more of the group."

But Wine did fine leading, though not the group, per se — he did so by example.

On the first day, he received his job, instead of going with the other students to watch Game Six of the NBA Finals, Wine stayed back and got to work on his city's budget.

That budget, which was the most important part of his job, the Delphos city treasurer told him, included things such as what he needed to pay each employee and how much they would lose in taxes.

Because Wine was able to finish the budget that night, he was able to help the other students the next day. That didn't go unnoticed, as one of the legionnaires told him this was the first time in his 40 years that he has seen the budget done on the first day.

"That speaks volumes," said Trevor's mom, Lisa Wine. "Trevor has always put himself where priority leads."

It didn't end there for Trevor: Not only was he the only person from Coshocton County selected for this program, but also his city won "best city" in their county two out of the four times.

But it gets better for Trevor: He also was awarded the Outstanding Citizen Award, an honor only 10 students received at graduation.

"Being the only one from my city, plus my county, plus pretty much anybody around me, standing up to get that award was awesome," Trevor said.

"It made me proud to know that Trevor could stand out in the top 10 out of 1,200," Lisa said.

Although Trevor has one year of high school left, this experience has him thinking about the future. He attended an open house at BGSU, where he spoke to the business program, which is the field he wants to enter.

"I'm looking forward to, I don't want to say moving away, but to start life. I'm ready to start in the real world," Wine said.

But before the real world kicks in, Trevor has to go back to River View, where he will need to be a leader once again as a senior, but this time for people he does know.

"This week really showed me how good of a leader I can be. If I can lead somebody I don't know, imagine how good I can be with somebody I do know, in football, basketball and stuff like that."

cteaguerob@gannett.com

740-295-3442

Twitter: @cj_teague