Last week, May 18-21, I had the privilege of serving as a page for the North Carolina General Assembly's House of Representatives. I was sponsored by Representative Robert Reives II, the representative of my district, District 54. This was an interesting week for the representatives, who arrive late Monday afternoon and hope to head back to their home towns on Thursday, as they were discussing and attempting to pass a new budget.
Paging entails getting the representatives coffee, copying documents, standing for long periods of time, and shaking lots of hands. If for nothing else, the interactions you get to have with those governing your state is very powerful, especially when you get to give them your input on key issues like fracking and state investments. I sat in on the Appropriations Committee, the one that decides where money gets spent, as they debated budget amendments, and the House Rules Committee where they voted on whether or not further amendments were ready to be sent to the floor of the House of Representatives to be voted on.
I got to hear Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils and Kristin Billings, Miss North Carolina, talk to the Representatives about the importance education and I heard some insider information discussing a possible new state symbol. Outside of the General Assembly building I got to visit the museums, the state capitol, and (my favorite) the memorial honoring the three presidents which hailed from our state, James Polk, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Johnson. Being a page also allows me to meet some pretty incredible people who are also serving as pages. One of the greatest things about the experience was talking to another page about life back in our hometowns and him wishing aloud that he went to a school like Woods.
Talking to other people about their high schools and listening to various politicians discuss the state of our education system gives insight into just how lucky we have it at the Woods Charter School. Kids and parents alike should be very proud to be involved in what is becoming quite the beacon around the state. Going to events like this always swells my patriotism and state pride but I was surprised that I returned to Pittsboro feeling the proudest about my school.
- Tommy Johnson (Class of 2016)
Paging entails getting the representatives coffee, copying documents, standing for long periods of time, and shaking lots of hands. If for nothing else, the interactions you get to have with those governing your state is very powerful, especially when you get to give them your input on key issues like fracking and state investments. I sat in on the Appropriations Committee, the one that decides where money gets spent, as they debated budget amendments, and the House Rules Committee where they voted on whether or not further amendments were ready to be sent to the floor of the House of Representatives to be voted on.
I got to hear Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils and Kristin Billings, Miss North Carolina, talk to the Representatives about the importance education and I heard some insider information discussing a possible new state symbol. Outside of the General Assembly building I got to visit the museums, the state capitol, and (my favorite) the memorial honoring the three presidents which hailed from our state, James Polk, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Johnson. Being a page also allows me to meet some pretty incredible people who are also serving as pages. One of the greatest things about the experience was talking to another page about life back in our hometowns and him wishing aloud that he went to a school like Woods.
Talking to other people about their high schools and listening to various politicians discuss the state of our education system gives insight into just how lucky we have it at the Woods Charter School. Kids and parents alike should be very proud to be involved in what is becoming quite the beacon around the state. Going to events like this always swells my patriotism and state pride but I was surprised that I returned to Pittsboro feeling the proudest about my school.
- Tommy Johnson (Class of 2016)