Area high school student serves in nation's Capitol

Ashli Wallace of Malden spent part of her summer working, as do most high school students. But not many get to work for the United States Congress!

Although it was Eighth District Congressowoman Jo Ann Emerson herself who initiated Wallace's interest in spending part of her summer in Washington, D.C., the call from Emerson saying there was an opening for a Congressional page was far from making the job a done deal.

According to Wallace, she had to submit a lot of paperwork, including the courses she has taken, her grades, a 200-word essay and her extracurricular activities.

"It was about like applying for college. As a matter of fact, I'll be using a lot of the same material when I start my college applications," said Wallace.

Emerson made the formal nomination for Wallace to serve as a Congressional Page by the nomination still had to be approved and selected b the Congressional Page Board, which only selects those few candidates it feels are best qualified to work for Congress.

"They even did a background check on MyPage.com and SpaceBook.com," Wallace revealed.

She explained that because of the current make up of Congress only a few Republican Congressional page spots were open. She was notified she was selected in May and reported to work during the summer session, June 9-29, leaving Malden with her Dad, Steve Wallace, on June 6.

The House of Representatives has used pages for over 200 years to help operate the day-to-day work in Congress, she learned. Duties consist of delivering correspondence and legislative material within the Congressional Complex. Some pages are assigned to answer phones in the member cloakrooms, take messages to the floor of the House and prepare the House Floor for sessions. They are required to memorize their congressional party members by photos and desk location since name badges are not used by the elected members, she noted.

Wallace mostly observed that aspect of the job. "It's much harder. You have to know all the names and deliver to the right person. You have to know what you're talking about," she said. Since she was on the job for a relatively brief period (some pages work entire school semesters or more), Wallace said her job was more of a supervisor.

"I answered phones and gave out errands," she said.

Of her experience, Wallace said, "It was fun, especially with all the controversy and the election going on."

Pages, she said, are required to live in the Page Dormitory two blocks from the Capitol and work from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m, or later if Congress works late. Approximately 70-75 students, living two to three in a room, occupy the dormitory.

"It was really nice. I was impressed," said Wallace about the living quarters.

A strict dress code is set for the 72 young men and women, who must wear a navy blue blazer, white shirt and tie and gray slacks or skirts with comfortable black shoes being critical considering the miles of walking done each day.

Wallace noted that pages can earn high school credits, even a physical education credit because of all the walking. Those who work as pages during the school year, she said, attend high school classes early in the morning before they report to the Capitol. Classes are held in the attick of the Library of Congress. If there's a particular credit they need, the page program provides an instructor, even if it is only for one person.

The program is available to high school juniors, ages 16-18 years old, and operates summer, fall and spring with students attending high school classes each day. Weekends and evenings are free to explore the museums and other sights in Washington. As a senior at Malden High School this year, Wallace can't apply again but said she would repeat the experience if she could.