Abbygail Mena, 14, served as a page in the state Senate during the week of April 1.<\/p>\n
Pages are sponsored by the senator from their legislative district. Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent, sponsored Mena’s week at the Legislature.<\/p>\n
“It was so great to host Abbygail at the Capitol this week,” Das said. “I hope that she enjoyed her time with the Legislature, and learned a lot about the Legislative Branch.”<\/p>\n
The page program offers a hands-on opportunity for students to find out how state government works. The educational experience is furthered by guest speakers. It also includes classes with topics such as budget writing and how a bill becomes a law — which culminates in pages creating their own bills in a mock committee setting.<\/p>\n
Mena and her partners worked on a bill that would allow later school start times. The bill would allow high school start times to be pushed back so that children could get more time to rest before the day starts. Mena and her partners found that this would increase productivity in teenagers and allow them to have more time to study.<\/p>\n
“I enjoyed listening to the many guest speakers,” Mena said. “They had a lot of great information and taught me about the many different jobs that you could have in state government.”<\/p>\n
Pages also have the opportunity to work on the Senate floor. Their maroon coats and credentials allow them access to all parts of the Capitol Campus.<\/p>\n
Mena is a freshman at Auburn High School. In her free time her she loves playing basketball for her high school team. She is excited to see what the rest of high school holds for her.<\/p>\n