When planning for summer break, most high school students
will pull out swimsuits and beach towels. For two Montgomery Catholic
Preparatory School students, blazers, ties, and dress shoes were required as
they spent some time working in the Alabama State House during the legislative
session. Junior Ellie Pool paged for Representative Reed Ingram and senior Ja’Michael
Washington paged for Senator David Burkette.
Pages play an important role for legislators by helping them
to set up the chambers for the day’s events, making and distributing copies of
documents, and performing general clerical duties. Pages also facilitate
communication by delivering messages between legislators in the House or Senate
chambers with people who are outside of the chambers. And while pages are
assigned to specific representatives and senators, many pages run errands for multiple
members of the legislature.
“It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun,” said
Ellie about her week in the State House. “It was really interesting to see the
legislature in session and to see how much goes into the writing and passing of
bills.”
Ja’Michael echoed Ellie’s sentiments and said that his
experience helped him to understand the inner
workings of government better. “I was not aware of how involved the legislative process was,” he said. “I got to see how much work and preparation goes into the defense of each bill.”
workings of government better. “I was not aware of how involved the legislative process was,” he said. “I got to see how much work and preparation goes into the defense of each bill.”
In addition to normal page duties, Ja’Michael also got to
lead the entire Senate in the Pledge of Allegiance. “They asked for a volunteer
to lead, and I stepped up,” he said. “I was a little nervous about messing it
up, but it went just fine.”
When asked about the most interesting aspects of the
experience, both students said that the discussion of bills on the House and
Senate floors was fascinating.
“I learned so much by watching the debates,” said Ellie.
“The discussion could get a little heated while the representatives were going
back and forth on the issues on the floor, and everyone was very passionate
about the legislation they were trying to pass. There was once an entire day
dedicated to discussing education bills.”
Ja’Michael admitted that his week as a page has influenced
his outlook on government. “I didn’t have as much of an interest in politics
before working as a page, but now I know that it is important to be involved in
the political process. It is crucial to vote for those who will be representing
your district.”
While Ellie said that she has yet to decide whether a career
in government is in her future, she did make some connections during her time
in the State House. “I really enjoyed getting to meet the other pages,” she
said. “I connected with so many cool people from all over the state.”
The Alabama House of Representatives and Senate Page Programs
offer young men and women a rare glimpse of the House and Senate chambers when
the legislature is in session. Pages get to meet their state legislators, watch
parliamentary procedure in action, and observe committee meetings. In addition
to interacting with the legislators, students also have an opportunity to
network with their peers who have traveled to Montgomery from all over the
state of Alabama.