Olympia Christian School (OCS) ninth-graders Mary Castrejon and Vanessa Denny served as pages for a week in the Washington state Senate during legislative session. The students were sponsored by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen.
Pages assist with the work of the legislature by making deliveries and performing other necessary tasks. Two hours each morning are spent in Page School with approximately 50 other students from across the state learning about the legislature's role, its process and its participants.
OCS students researched, wrote and defended their own bill before a Page School Legislative Committee.
"Paging was an eye-opening experience," says Castrejon. "I actually got to attend a committee hearing and was able to watch Floor Action, which is when senators discuss bills they are trying to pass out of the Senate. We also got to know our way around the capitol campus and made lots of new friends."
Washington state Senate pages for a week, at right, Mary Castrejon and Vanessa Denny, Olympia Christian School students, pose with Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and other pages.
