The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

OLYMPIA - Many in the Touchet Valley have seen 15-year-old Cougar Henderson on stage at Dayton's Liberty Theater. In fact, he's gearing up to appear with dozens of co-stars in the Spring Variety Show later this month.

His voice has been heard at Salt & Light concerts in Waitsburg, where local youth minister to peers and others both here and around the region with contemporary Christian songs.

And last week he could be seen at the state capital, serving as a page in the Washington State House of Representative.

"Politics are interesting," said Henderson, who never really imagined himself being drawn to politics. But all that has changed.

Henderson, a sophomore at Walla Walla High School, is the son of Marne Henderson of Dayton and Tony Henderson of Waitsburg. He's also good friends with Rep. Terry Nealey, R-Dayton.

Nealey sponsored Henderson in Olympia.

" If Terry hadn't been elected, I don't think I would have gotten interested in the legislature," said Henderson, who has known Nealey for years and helped the Dayton attorney during his cam- paigning last year.

Heading west to Olympia last week was nothing new to the teen. Last year he spent a week visiting Nealey in office, shadowing him and learning about the House of Representatives.

"That's where I found out about the paging program," Henderson said. "This year, I figured I could do pretty much the same thing and get paid for it."

Paging presents students with a unique educational opportunity to participate in the legislative process, according to Senior Information Officer John Sattgast. Their duties vary from ceremonial tasks, such as presenting the flags, to operational chores like distributing amendments during legislative sessions.

Last Monday through Friday, Henderson spent time each day with about a dozen other pages.

Pages spend two hours each day in a classroom setting learning about the legislative process. Students have time outside of the two-hour page school to do school assignments from home in the page room or in the evenings after work.

Monday through Wednesday they created and wrote up their own mock bills. Henderson's was a proposed step toward ending hunger in the state. On Thursday the proposed bills went before a mock committee of 11 House and Senate reps. Henderson received 10 approvals and just one "no."

"It was fun," he said. "I think that sparked a lot of my real interest, learning how it all really goes down, how bills become laws."

When the rest of the pages went home on Friday, Henderson stayed on. He was the only page working during the special Saturday session. Then on Sunday he helped give orientation for new pages coming in.

"I don't know what I'll do with what I've learned," Henderson said. "Maybe I'll intern at the capital someday."

To serve as a page for the House of Representatives, a student must have permission from a parent or guardian, have permission from school, be sponsored by a current member of the House of Representatives, be at least 14 years of age and not have reached his or her 17th birthday.

To allow the maximum number of students to participate, pages are allowed to serve only one week of a legislative session for either the House or Senate, not both, and to serve only once during their eligibility period.

Paging is a paid position - the pay is $35 per day for each day worked. Before work commences, federal law requires that all employees, including pages, have a Social Security card and prove their employment eligibility.

For questions or applications, go online to http:// www.leg. wa. gov/ House/ Pages/HousePageProgram. aspx or contact the Legislative Information Center at: House of Representatives, PO Box 40600, Olympia, WA 98504-0600, (360) 786- 7573.