Edmonds Teen Serves As Senate Page

For most, the week of Monday, May 2nd, might have simply been the 10th week of the 2011 legislative session. But to Aidan O’Neill, it was also a 5-day opportunity to gain experience working for state government firsthand.

Aidan, an 8th grade student at St. Luke School in Shoreline, was among many other Washington youth age 14 to 16 who participated in the Senate Page Program at the Washington State Legislature based in Olympia, the state’s capital. He was sponsored by Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds.

“My Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Rosemary Conroy, presented [the program] to me during class and it sounded interesting,” Aidan said in an e-mail.

Aidan’s brother, Conor O’Neill, also got involved in the Page program 2 years ago, which further motivated the 8th grader to try and apply.  

Aidan said he gave up some basketball games and took a week away from his studies to take part in the program. “I think it was worth it to have this experience and learn about the government,” he said.

Pages for the program deliver mail to Senate offices, run errands, present the flag, and work in the Senate chambers.

In addition to these services, Aidan picked up supplies for the Senators’ offices during his time at the program. He also put in long hours each day.

“We got to work at roughly 7:30AM and met in the Page room," Aidan said. "There, we got our schedules and went to different stations, where we did whatever task that that particular station had planned for us to do. We got back to our houses around 5:00PM.”

Aidan stayed at a host’s house in Olympia for the week. His parents didn’t have to pay for anything aside from his housing and meal expenses throughout the program.

Pages also spend two hours a day in page school, where they try their hand at drafting bills and learning the legislative process.

Aidan and his fellow pages created their own bills and attended mock hearings in a real hearing room. During the hearings, Aidan helped write a bill that aimed to regulate driver’s licenses for the elderly based on the results of their medical tests.

Aidan said that prior to the mock session, he didn’t know the process of how to draft a bill but his teacher at the page school taught him how to do so.

“My bill was "ayed" by everyone except one person, which was the most out of the entire group, Senate and House Pages included,” Aidan added.

A former newspaper delivery boy, Aidan said he liked having to deliver packages to different offices during the Page program. In fact, he enjoyed every aspect of it, and gained some valuable lessons.

“I learned that it takes a lot of people to create change within our state and it's good to debate important issues,” Aidan said.

The program also caused Aidan to become more interested in government. He's now considering serving as a Page in Washington D.C. in high school and pursuing political science as an area of study later in life.

Aidan believes that this Page program and others like it may inspire students to make a difference in their state by offering the opportunity to observe firsthand how issues are solved.

“I would definitely recommend this program to other students in Washington because it allowed me to see the life of a government official,” Aidan added.

The 8th grader also offers some bonus advice: “When you are in Olympia being a Page, always try and act professional and be friendly. My Senator had me in for pizza one day because he thought I did a great job!”