Steven D. Jacka, a sophomore at Henrietta Lacks Health & Bioscience High School, served as a page with the Washington State Senate the week of April 17. Sen. Annette Cleveland (D-Vancouver) sponsored his week at the Legislature.
The page program offers a week of interactive learning about how state government works. Pages get to witness committee hearings, sit in on floor debates, and deliver materials for Senate staff.
Jacka applied to the program because he has future aspirations of becoming a politician: “I may eventually run for office for a term or two. This seems interesting.”
Steven’s favorite part is being on the Senate floor: “The Senate chambers during floor debates, specifically bills that are split, were very interesting.”
He sponsored a bill for his page program’s mock committee regarding vocational high school.
“I was a speaker during our mock committee and our bill was also very well written. SB 6070, vocational high schools, passed.”
Jacka also would recommend the program to potential candidates in the future: “Depends on the person and you can’t be a quitter. It’s a lot of work.”
Jacka said the biggest thing he’s taking away from this all is learning that not all bills pass.
“The number of bills that gets through is very small.”
For more information about the Senate Page Program, contact SenatePageProgram@leg.wa.gov.
