State House page program brings refreshment to Annapolis

High school senior William Kozma has wanted to participate in the State House page program in Annapolis since before he began his freshman year at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin.

His mother, who took him to the polls as a child when she went to vote, suggested it to him after learning of a Decatur grad who completed the program, which brings select high school seniors from across the state to the capital for two non-consecutive weeks of work during the 90-day session. The job duties of a page aren’t exactly glamorous.

“Like yesterday,” said William, describing his new role, “one of the senators said, ‘Could you please give me a cup of water?’ So I made sure to go out and get a cup of water.”

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But while straightening the chambers, making sure the legislators’ voting buttons are operable, and providing coffee or water may not seem invigorating, in a larger sense, the General Assembly’s student page program has been providing refreshment to Annapolis for more than 50 years. Student pages fill the chambers with energetic employees, some of whom return to state government, serving in various capacities, including as legislative aides or even elected officials.

The program “helped cement values that would later lead me to pursue a career in public service,” the state’s new Comptroller Brooke Lierman, an alumna who participated as a senior at Walt Whitman High in Montgomery County, wrote in an email. “I got to experience firsthand the ins and outs of our state’s legislative process.”

Program's history dates back over 50 years

The program was not an option for now-state Sen. Joanne Benson, D-Prince George’s, growing up in Hagerstown’s Jonathan Street area before matriculating to South Hagerstown High School. She had graduated from college before the program’s inception in 1970. Nevertheless, she sees promise in the program that has seen roughly 6,000 participants since its trial run at the 1968 state Constitutional Convention.

“It is probably one of the finest programs that we can offer here in Annapolis,” said the veteran legislator, in an interview on the Senate floor. “We see (the pages) as the future. These are our future leaders, and what better way to get them started than to have them here.”

Mae Crews, a senior at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown, wrote an essay for her entry in the program as one of the Washington County pages this session. (In her spare time, she also serves as the county’s student member of the Board of Education.) Kozma, from Worcester County’s Berlin, had to write an essay and go through an interview process to be selected.

“The youngsters are sent from schools where the principal, and the counselor, and the staff deem them the very best,” Benson said. “We want them to have exposure to the democratic process.”

Each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions has a county coordinator, said page coordinator Tawana Offer. A total of 105 pages with 36 alternates are selected each year. The students receive a stipend of $55 per day worked. The modest fee sometimes has unexpected returns.

“As you can see with (Prince George’s County Democratic) Del. Jazz Lewis, who happens to be my delegate,” Benson said, “it pays off.”

From page to delegate and aide

As a high school student, Lewis was not politically active nor was he interested in the student page program.

“Candidly, my aunt signed me up,” said the now delegate, who participated in the program in 2007. “I did not want to go until I found out that it was paid and I got out of school.”

He met then-Del. Benson, and said the program “completely changed my life for the better.”

“I got to really get a feel for government, and it started to put that interest of public service in me,” said the House Majority Whip in an interview, before walking into the House chamber. “I learned a lot about the process, and I got to make it personal. Politics wasn’t this far thing.”

It was a similarly transformative experience for Sarah Kilmon, now the legislative aide and district coordinator for Republican Sen. Johnny Mautz, whose district includes Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester and Wicomico counties.

“My interest in state politics was certainly sparked by my participation in the page program in 2014,” wrote Kilmon, who attended Easton High School, in an email. “It was also an incredible way to connect with students from across the state, many of whom I am still in contact with today.”

Kilmon recalls the senior year being the “perfect time” for the program amid decisions about next steps for education and career.

Now, Lewis takes time every week to speak to the student pages, even playing the guitar for them when the program went virtual during the pandemic.

“It helps to teach the process,” the politician said. “This could be you, if that’s what you want.”

College decisions, careers ahead

Kozma, of Decatur, isn’t sure yet what he wants. Midway through his first week as a page, he’s still waiting to hear back from a college about whether he’s been accepted.

When asked whether he would consider returning to Annapolis to serve in some capacity, Kozma elaborated on his thought process.

“If I end up living in Maryland, I think I would strongly consider it,” he said. “I would like to also get to know a lot more communities around here, serving the local government.”

He continued: “So then, not only do I build relationships but I understand broader areas, concerns, and issues so that I can better represent them in the future.”

Crews, from Hagerstown, who like Kozma, aspires to be a political science major as a potential path into law, doesn’t see politics or being an elected official as her path. Still, the Annapolis experience is instructive.

“I don’t think that being a politician is where I think I want to go,” said Crews, in an afternoon interview alongside Kozma in the State House’s canteen, “but I mean, I feel like I’ve talked to a decent amount of senators by now, and a lot of them are like, ‘Yeah, I never thought I ended I would end up here.’”

She points to a conversation she had as the student board of education member with now-Lt.-Gov. Aruna Miller, a former delegate and civil engineer by trade, as an example.

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The most memorable moment for Crews and Kozma at the midway point of their first week: meeting their representatives. Crews just finished a meeting with Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, and Kozma spoke with Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, R-Worcester, on the floor on his first day. He also received a note and a Maryland state flag after meeting with Del. Wayne Hartman, R-Worcester.

The college-bound student from the state’s Eastern Shore who has been waiting over three years to participate endorses the program for those coming behind him on only his third day on the job.

“Even if you’re a little bit interested in government and politics, you might discover that you're actually a lot interested in government politics,” he said, “and that you want to maybe serve your community, and get to know the issues, and help solve the issues.”

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Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Local 12th-grade students participate in Annapolis page program