Everett teen serves as page in state House
Snohomish county native Aimee Gaston traveled south to Olympia February 20 and served as a page in the state House of Representatives. She learned about the program from 39th district Rep. Elizabeth Scott.
As a part of her page duties, Aimee learned to navigate the many buildings on the Capitol campus and delivered messages and documents to legislators and staff. She assisted representatives on the floor of the House during voting, and participated in opening ceremonies during each day of session. Aimee also attended page school for a couple hours each day to understand the operations and actions of the Legislature, often directly from elected officials.
“I felt the page program would be something Aimee might enjoy, learning about her state government and the inner workings of the Legislature.” said Scott, R-Monroe. “Many pages later become community leaders or perhaps run for public office. I'm very excited to see what Aimee does with this experience.”
At the end of their week in Olympia, each page presents a bill they wrote to a mock committee consisting of their fellow pages. Aimee was part of a group focused on shortening the appeals process for death row inmates in Washington. She articulated her arguments to restrict appeals to no more than five years after their conviction, and was successful when the page committee voted to pass her bill.
The daughter of Darrel Gaston and T. Catherine Bui, Aimee enjoys traveling, playing piano, drawing manga comics, and spending time at the YMCA. She is heavily involved in Troop 722 of the American Heritage Girls and is working towards the Stars and Strips Award (the highest attainable rank).
To become a page, applicants must have a legislative sponsor, be between the ages of 14 and 16, and obtain written permission from their parents and school. Pages earn $35 per day while serving in the program. For more information about the House page program, visit: http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Pages/HousePageProgram.aspx.
