Teens needed to work as Senate pages for the 2007 legislative session

OLYMPIA – Pages provide invaluable services to legislators and staff by relaying documents across the Capitol Campus, responding to requests from senators at work in the Senate chamber and presenting the flag during floor sessions. In exchange, students receive a valuable, living civics lesson by seeing state government at work firsthand.

Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, invites middle and high school students to apply for one-week, paid Senate page positions available in his office for the 2007 legislative session, which started Jan. 8 and is scheduled to end April 22.

“It makes me smile when I see young people from across the state come to Olympia and work as pages,” Shin said. “It shows maturity and it takes responsibility to work in this environment. It benefits students to understand how their system of government works, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than to actually come here to be a part of it.”

During their assigned week, pages attend classes in the page school, designed to teach students about state government and the legislative process. They also listen to guest speakers, tour the buildings on the Capitol Campus and learn how to draft bills.

If accepted, students are required to attend a two-hour orientation the Sunday afternoon before their assigned week. Pages work Monday through Friday, beginning at 7:45 a.m. and usually ending at 5 p.m. (Pages will work Saturday or Sunday only if the Senate decides to hold session those days.) The Senate also offers students assistance in finding host homes.

To serve as a page, a student must:

• have a grade point average of a C+ or better;
• receive parent and school permission;
• have a Social Security number; and
• be at least 14 years old but not older than 16.

More information about the page program is available online at http://www1.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/

Those interested in receiving a page application can contact Shin’s office at 360-786-7640 or e-mail the senator’s legislative assistant, Jim Freeburg, at freeburg.jim@leg.wa.gov.

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