CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Emma Elaine Roberts, a 16-year-old junior at Kubasaki High School, has been picked to attend the Texas Bluebonnet Girls State summer program this June at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas.

The daughter of Marine Lt. Col. Mark and Shizue Roberts, Emma Roberts is the first student from an Okinawa Department of Defense Dependents School to attend the American Legion-sponsored program in the United States.

“Normally, a youth must reside in the state and be nominated by their high school to attend and be sponsored by an American Legion group,” her father said, adding that program officials made allowances because he is a member of Okinawa’s American Legion Post and a Texas resident.

The program is designed to educate young women in the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, according to the organization’s Web site.

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