Congratulations to Chief Sealth International High School junior Joy Ohta, among the first to serve in the State Senate‘s Page Program as it relaunches with stage legislators’ return to in-person sessions. Here’s the announcement we received:

Joy Ohta, 16, spent the week of January 9-13 serving as a page for the Washington State Senate. Sen. Joe Nguyen (D-West Seattle) sponsored her week in the Legislature.

The page program offers students a hands-on opportunity to learn about state government through classes, guest speakers, and direct contact with legislators. Ohta was motivated to serve as a page in order to learn more about state government and explore her options for college.

“I thought the page program would be a good opportunity to kind of find out how the government works,” said Ohta. “I don’t know a lot about the government, and I am looking for careers and what kind of career I’m going to be interested in.”

Ohta learned a lot from the program, through both page school and experience talking with legislators. However, her favorite part of the program was the relationships she built with her fellow pages.

“My favorite part has been meeting the other pages, because we all come from such different cities or towns,” Ohta said. “I think that interaction between all of us has been really nice and aiding how I feel comfortable here at the Capitol.”

Sen. Nguyen said that Ohta was “a pleasure to be around” and is glad that the page program has returned.

Ohta is a junior at Chief Sealth International High School, where she plays an active role in her school’s community. She plays for the volleyball and tennis teams, plays piano for jazz band, and serves as an ASB representative.

Interested students can apply to the Senate Page Program; eligibility was previously limited to ages 14 through 16 but with the program ramping back up from pandemic hiatus, it’s expanded to 17- and 18-year-olds this year too. Find out more here; you can also email questions to SenatePageProgram@leg.wa.gov.