Page program video transcript

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[Scenes showing pages carrying flags, learning in page school, delivering documents on the chamber floor, and walking outside the capitol building]

Video Title: Paging in Olympia

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Andrew: I'm Andrew Scott I'm from Walla Wala.

Caitlyn: I'm Caitlyn Cornell and I'm from Vancouver.

Levi: I'm Levi Benson and I'm from Olympia, Washington.

Andrew: Being a page is a lot of fun. It's a good experience and you learn a lot.

Caitlyn: I have had so much fun and learned a lot.

Levi: My favorite thing personally was meeting the people from all around the state. It's a great experience, you definitely should do it, and enjoy every moment of it.

Narrator: The page program takes place at the capitol campus in Olympia during the legislative session, and has been around for decades. What is the page program? It's a weeklong hands-on opportunity to find out how your state government works. The Senate and House of Representatives accept public, private, and homeschool students from 14 to 16 years old. During your week in Olympia, you’d be a Senate or House of Representatives employee.

Andrew: We have the jacket on, we can get in, we can go places.

Levi: To be able to go around through the capitol where other people aren't allowed to go.

Caitlyn: Oh it’s beautiful, it's very beautiful.

Andrew: We had several sunny days this week and it’s gorgeous, you got Mount Rainer going on in the background, and nice lakes around, and it's very pretty.

Narrator: Who makes a good candidate for the page program? Students who like an interactive learning experience, are curious about the world around them, and are interested in learning how state government works.

Caitlyn: I... pretty much knew nothing about our...the way that Washington handles government, and I learned a lot, from especially from page school.

Andrew: We learned about how a bill becomes a law, the intricate process that it has to go to, um, we learned about the budget, the state budget and how that works out, uh, we took a tour of the treasury, and the state treasurer took us down and showed us the vault and stuff like that it was pretty fun. There was a lot of money, but no gold.

Caitlyn: There's formalities that have to be used, and it was just a very interesting process.

Levi: I made uh, quite a few friends already and it's just nice to meet more new people so…

Narrator: What does a page do during the week? There’s Sunday orientation, where you get a tour of the campus, and meet your host family. Then during the week you climb a lot of stairs, deliver messages, help in offices, hand out documents on the floor, attend page school, sit in on committee hearings, and meet lots of new friends. And you get paid!

Caitlyn: I loved working on the House floor, it’s really busy and you actually feel like you're making a difference in the process; It was really cool.

Andrew: We took packages from different offices to other offices, just ran errands for people and when we had floor session we would - two people would bring in the flags in the morning, and then they would stand at the doors and bring the…bring messages in from outside to the floor and then other pages would disperse them to the senator’s desk.

Levi: The most interesting thing I think would just be working on the floor and watching how the Senators work and what they do.

Narrator: Where do pages stay during the week? Host family homes, or with family and friends in the Olympia area.

Caitlyn: It was really excellent actually, they fed me a lot of food, and they drove me to and from places, and it was a great experience.

Narrator: What would you need to bring to Olympia? You need your social security card and photo ID, uniform clothing: a white dress shirt, black dress pants or skirt, black socks, and black shoes. Spending money for lunches and stuff, schoolwork from home, and casual clothing while staying with your host family.

Caitlyn: Bring very comfortable shoes cuz you're going to walk a lot.

Levi: Yeah lots of walking.

Andrew: It's nice to have your homework there so you don't fall too far behind.

Narrator: What costs are involved? Transportation to and from Olympia, uniform clothing, housing expenses, and spending money.

Andrew: That was kinda the nice thing, we could just walk downtown and get something at Subway or Starbucks or something like that. A couple times, I went down to the Dome Deli, downstairs, and it's good.

Narrator: Is there financial help available? Yes, some local businesses and school or Service Groups may help. Plus, you'll earn nearly $200 during the week you work! How do you apply? You can get an application from the House or the Senate, or go online. Get the required signatures from your school and parents, mail the application to your senator or representative as soon as possible.

Caitlyn: I’d heard about it from a friend, and then I went to the website and I mailed a letter to Ed Orcutt to get sponsorship and it was pretty simple.

Narrator: Learn about your state government, meet new friends, and have a one-of-a-kind experience.

Andrew: It's a good experience, and you learn a lot.

Caitlyn: I have had so much fun.

Levi: You definitely should do it, and enjoy every moment of it.

Narrator: Come to Olympia and be a page!

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