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Library News

Where are the high school pages?

By Elizabeth Lincoln

The House of Representatives has had a highly regarded high school page program for high school juniors since 1975.  The high school pages are familiar faces to those who spend a lot of time on the House floor. 

One key element to the program is participation in "a mock committee session designed to develop students' leadership skills and to inspire them to think critically about the issues confronting our state."  The pages spend a couple of hours in the Library each week researching a topic they choose to prepare for their committee hearing.  Fracking and four-day school weeks were just two of the topics they debated in mock committee this year.

But staff in the Library don't see them as much during the last few weeks of the program.  With longer floor sessions the pages are needed on the House floor (along with the non-high-school pages) so they don't have time for a mock committee hearing.

Brett Dornfeld is the head of the program this year.  Many legislators and staff may remember long-time head Steve AlgerSession Weekly featured articles about the high school page program and about Steve a few years ago.