One Page at a time

Senior Sara King was selected to be a part of Maryland General Assembly Page Program in December of 2022. In this program, high school seniors become a “page” for a week – they get to live in Annapolis and work at the state house for as an internship experience. Sara completed one of her weeks in her internship, February 20th through the 24th and will have another week in April.   

Sara stated that for her first week she “attended committee hearings, met with county delegates and senators, and toured the state house.” While during sessions she “got coffee and water for the delegates, made copies of the voting sheets, and ran other small errands.” 

This program is “an opportunity for high school seniors to learn about the legislative process,” Sara says. It also “offers the ability to get future internships and meet with delegates and senators.” Mrs. Canatella, a social studies teacher at Fallston and the advisor of the SGA, praises the page program as it “allows students to see how the legislative process works at a larger level.” 

To get into the program, Sara had to go through an application with “basic personal information and a short essay about why [she] wanted to be a page.” After that, there is an interview process, which she aced. Ms. Canatella mentions that “Fallston’s delegation usually has a large presence. Fallston students who interview usually always get in.” Sara was able to stay with a host family who only lived a mile away from the state house. Sara added that the host family was “incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.”   

From this opportunity of being a page, Sara was able to learn a lot about the whole delegation process as well as personally get to know some delegates. Ms. Canatella added that students being able to meet state legislatures and talk about potential opportunities they can get outside of high school is a large benefit someone can gain from this program.  

Sara has only high regards to everyone she was able to work with, saying, “The Harford County Delegation is made up of people who demographically represent our county well. They are incredibly down to earth and it’s obvious that they care about making a difference in our community.”  

One thing she did not know when she first came onto the program was just how easy it was to be involved in or learn more about the Maryland state government. Sara explained that “anybody can testify on bills and finding information on specific bills is made very easy through the MD GA website.” Lastly, Mrs. Canatella added that she is “so very proud” of Sara being able to be part of this program.