Getting Paid Nice Benefit To Being Legislative Page

Tyler Moosman came home from Olympia with an appreciation for the fast pace of the Legislature, the complexity of lawmakers’ discussions - and the marble halls of the Capitol.

He also liked the $35 pay he earned after working a week as a page.

Moosman and his friend Ned Blakesley, both ninth-graders at Horizon Junior High School, were sponsored as pages during February by Sen. Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley.

“Do it. It’s a great experience,” Moosman said he would advise others.

Pages hand-carry documents from one office to another, and distribute other material on the Senate or House floor. The week also includes two hours of page school a day, in which students learn about how bills move through the Legislature. Moosman created a bill that would raise the drinking age.

“Then at the end, we have a press conference, and we really drill each other,” he said.

Moosman’s enthusiasm for his week as a page, however, does not mean he wants someday to become a legislator.

“I want to keep my 4.0 up and get into the best college I can,” he said. “But I’m too young to know what I want to do (for a living).”

Three St. Paschal’s eighth-graders also worked as pages this winter: Scott Stoll and Gene Cunneely were sponsored by McCaslin, while Matthew Van Dinter was sponsored by Sen. Larry Sheahan, R-South Spokane.

Keystone piles up food

Student officers at Keystone Elementary School decided to buck the trend of holiday food drives.

So they bided their time and, in the last two weeks, collected 1,460 cans and boxes of food for the Spokane Valley Food Bank.

This, from a school with only 261 students.

“We thought they would have eaten all the food from Christmas, and need more now,” said associated student body president Jessica Richmond, as she and her fellow officers tugged the heavy boxes of food into order.

“They worked so hard,” said advisor Marguerite Garcia. “They gave up lots of lunch times.”

Orchard Center teacher honored

West Valley School District honored teacher Shelly Coil this week with a You Make a Difference award.

Coil is a consulting teacher at Orchard Center Elementary School, where she applies her knowledge of computers and works with special education students, grant writing and remedial projects. She has been with the district 13 years.