Published: May 10, 2008 10:56 pm            

Serving as senate page

Stillwater High School sophomores Marissa Lewis and Savannah Parsons served as pages for Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan during the 10th week of the legislative session, April 7-10.

“Marissa and Savannah were welcome additions in the Senate,” said Morgan, D-Stillwater. “They helped us immensely and I want to thank them for taking time away from their school activities to help us during this busy time of year.”

Pages provide important services during the busy weekly legislative sessions. They assist with Senate committee meetings and the daily sessions of the full Senate. One of their primary duties is relaying messages to and from Senators in the Senate Chamber from other legislators as well as Senate staff and lobbyists.

“My brothers had paged and told me it was really fun and that I would learn a lot,” Lewis said. “They were right. I got to learn more about the legislative process than we do in school and it got me more interested in politics.”

The page program provides students with the educational experience of learning about the legislative process firsthand. They get to participate in mock sessions known as “Pageville” where they assume the responsibilities of legislative officials and others involved in the process. This, along with actually assisting the Senators and Senate staff, helps teach them about the legislative process and how bills become law.

“My friend had told me about the page program and how much she had enjoyed it,” Parsons said. “It was interesting getting to see firsthand how the legislative process works and I especially enjoyed learning about what it takes to be a Senator. It’s a great program and I would recommend it to others.”

During the week, the pages also had the opportunity to tour the Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion as well as visit with Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins.

        

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