Do you want to help students learn more about our judicial system through hands-on work and experience? The Legislative Page Program invites students ages 14 to 16 to serve in Olympia for one week during the legislative session. Students receive a stipend and 20 hours of community service. How can you help? They need Olympia families to host the students who come from all over the state.
“Pages assist legislators by delivering mail, assisting in office tasks, presenting the colors at the start of the legislative session each year and leading the Pledge of Allegiance,” shares Myra Hernandez, director of civic education for the Washington State Senate. “Pages are also required to attend Page School to learn about the state government and prepare for their own mock committee hearing, which is the highlight of their week-long experience.”
Page Host Families: Duties and Responsibilities
Are you an adult with a spare bedroom? The Legislative Page Program needs you! “Host families make the experience affordable for students who do not have the means to pay a daily hotel rate in Olympia or whose guardians/parents are unable to accompany them to the Capitol,” explains Hernandez. “Host families significantly reduce costs for students and help reduce access to the legislature.”
Each host applicant must submit to a background check and fill out additional state paperwork. Approvals are based on the application and background checks. Anyone over 18 who lives in the house must pass a background check and be listed on the application.
Families hosting need to provide a safe and healthy environment for their student. This includes a private room. Pages can share a room with other pages, but each must have their own bed.
“Host families can host more than one student at a time,” Hernandez says. “They can choose how many they can host following the requirements and for however long during the session they would like to host them. This session runs from January 11 through March 1 for pages and even two weeks of hosting makes a huge difference for students as an average of 35 pages are scheduled per week.”
Duties of the host family include driving the page to work every day, Monday through Friday and providing breakfast and dinner (lunch is optional). Hosts may also drive their student to other page-related activities with the permission of the student’s parents or guardians.
Host families are allowed to charge for room and board, Hernandez says. Rates usually range from $250-350 per week. “The Legislature does not oversee or recommend any type of housing for students, nor do we set rates for host families,” she adds. “All those arrangements for receiving payment, accepting students in the home, setting rules, etc., is subject to every host family and the parents/guardians of the pages.”
The Day in The Life of a Student Legislative Page
Hernandez adds that students receive first-hand experience in how members work with one another to pass laws while learning with students from other places. Over 3,000 students participate in the Legislative Page Program each year.
“When you are a page, you learn that governing society is a very complex process,” shares Noemi, who went through the Legislative Page Program. “While working, pages observe the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, all working diligently to perform their duties: participating in a mock committee hearing, working on the floor, and delivering things to the different buildings on the Capitol campus demonstrated just how complicated it is to have a successful government. Attending the mock committee hearing for Page School showed me the importance of senators and representatives voting on bills, researching information, and paying attention while making laws.”
Students work as both Senate and House pages. “The work is the same for either chamber,” explains Hernandez. “Students assist members in delivering notes and messages and provide additional assistance to staff. They are on the chamber Floor passing out bills, amendments, and assisting members and the rostrum staff for an efficient session.”
For the week, students get a stipend – $67 for Senate and $65 for House. They are welcome to spend their stipend on anything they wish.
“This week as a page has been a great experience that I highly recommend to anyone interested,” shares Haley, a student who went through the Legislative Page Program. “Being so involved in the governing process has brought me knowledge and experience that I couldn’t have received anywhere else. Government regulates our lives every day. If you don’t like what they’re doing, you can get involved and start making a difference.”
Apply to be a page host family through this online application.
