Recently Jeff Clark, four-year senior at Mt. Ellis Academy, had an opportunity to be a House of Representatives page in Helena, Mont. The pages are the worker bees of the capitol, keeping open the lines of communication by carrying messages to all four floors of the building, as well as performing the occasional odd task.
“Without the pages, I don’t know what we would do,” said Darlene Ramage, the House assistant sergeant-at-arms in charge of pages.
“During the week I was there, I learned quite a bit about the governmental system,” Jeff said. “I was able to see what a legislator is, what he/she does, and how all the legislators work together to try and better the State of Montana.
“All of a sudden, a lot of things I’ve studied in government class made sense because I saw them with my own eyes,” he continued. “The capitol building and governmental process was very interesting but not nearly as interesting as the people who make it work.
“I got to know several of the legislators and senators, and found that they were no different than most of the people that live in my home community. Most of the legislators were good, God-fearing Christians. Before every session, the entire assembly would pray that God would lead in the day’s work and in the future of the state of Montana. I found it very comforting to see God at work in our capitol and to know that He is very much in control of our lives on every level.”
Each house will have eight or nine pages who work for a week so as many students as possible can have the experience. •
Jeff Clark recently served as a page in the Montana legislature.
