Dear neighbors,
Today I have good news and better news.
The good news is that our Senate Page Program is back and running after a two-year sabbatical while the Legislature operated mostly remotely and there was no reason to have pages on the Capitol Campus.
Pages serve for one week during the legislative session, which runs from January through April. Pages spend their week at the Capitol learning about the legislative process while distributing materials on the Capitol campus, assisting offices, delivering messages, working on the Senate floor, and presenting the colors at the opening of the day’s legislative session. Pages also spend time each day in page school learning about all aspects of state government. To be eligible to page, a student must be 14, 15 or 16 years old – under normal conditions.
The even better news is that this year students ages 17 and 18 may also apply to serve as pages. This one-time exception is to extend the opportunity to students who were denied it during the past two years of remote operation due to the pandemic.
What’s more, scholarships are available for pages from families with financial need, and housing with host families local to Olympia is available. You can see what it’s like to be a page here and you can apply here. Applications close Feb. 13, 2023.
I am always very proud to sponsor young students as Senate pages, and hope that someone you know, a neighbor, a daughter or son, niece or nephew, granddaughter or grandson, might have an interest in spending a week in Olympia during session next year!
Always,
