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2008/09 Page Program participants |
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Written by Bobby Marvin
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Council President announces 2008/09 Page Program participants The Baltimore City Council, in conjunction with Community Law in Action Inc.(CLIA), announced this year's selection of students to participate in the 2008-09 City Council Page Program, a joint initiative aimed to engage youth in city government and hone leadership skills.
Originally introduced as a semester program, the City Council Page Program expanded to a one-year paid internship that allows students to work with City Council members and to learn city government.
All upperclassmen throughout Baltimore City Public High Schools are able to apply during an annual selection process. The criteria for the program is not based on academic performance, but based on applicants’ willingness and interest to learn more and, hopefully, with the acquired knowledge, inspire others to be active in the political and social climate.
“I’m excited–they look like they have a lot of energy and certainly a lot of interest in the legislative process,” said City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake when asked of her impression of this year's participants. “They need to understand how important it is to be engaged in government, to pay attention to issues, and I think they’re going to get a good lesson.”
In collaboration with the University of Maryland Law school, CLIA, a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that has served Baltimore for over 10 years, supports urban youth by bettering their schools and communities.
“These are ambassadors for Baltimore City, for their neighborhoods, for their schools. These are young people that chose to apply for this and worked hard to get it. We had a really hard time picking Pages this year and to me that’s awesome. These are real live kids and we have a thousand more of them in the schools. I’m just sorry we can only pick four,” said Terry Hickey, Executive Director of CLIA.
During their one-year term at City Hall, Page participants will work throughout the week, observing the intricate inner workings of the City Council, which includes sitting in on hearings and community meetings, and collecting background research on proposed bills. In addition, each Page participant is able to give a presentation on an issue that they are passionate about at the end of the term.
This year’s Page participants are Charnice Blackledge (senior), Syerra Meadows (junior), Danesha Thomas (junior) from Western High School, and Darwin Milburn (junior) from Northwestern High School.
“I feel honored," said Milburn. “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, something that most people would take for granted, but it is a gift for us,” expressed Thomas.
Future plans for the City Council Page program include expanding the program to more students and, eventually, younger students.
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