RSHS sophomore to be legislative page
By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
This is no ordinary Monday morning for Alyson Taylor.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Richmond Senior High School left over the weekend to begin a week-long stint in the Governor’s Page Program. Being a page is akin to an introductory course in state government.
Photo credit LifeTouch Photography
Alyson Taylor, a sophomore at Richmond Senior High School, is in Raleigh this week for the Governor’s Page Program.
Taylor said she was inspired to apply for the program after watching “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” a 1939 political comedy starring James Stewart. In the film, Stewart is a naive, newly elected congressional representative who ends up taking on the political machine — and wins.
Taylor said she liked Stewart’s character because “he was the underdog.”
The Governor’s Page Program was established in 1975 in order to “provide students with an opportunity to gain hands-on knowledge of the function and roles of state government while learning about the importance of public service,” according to the program website.
Taylor said her parents helped fill out the application, which was submitted through Rep. Ken Goodman.
“It looks good on a college application,” said Taylor, who aspires to become a surgeon.
Taylor will work her assigned duties from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, Tuesday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday. Her first official place of duty is 116 W. Jones St. in downtown Raleigh in the Governor’s Office in the Administration Building.
Taylor, who has tentatively narrowed down her college choices to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or East Carolina University, said she is involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, including JV softball, JV cheerleading, Beta Club and IDFY, an anti-drug awareness organization.
In addition, she completed a month-long volunteer program last summer at FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital in Rockingham. During that volunteer experience, Taylor said she worked in nearly every department, but “radiology … that was my favorite.”
Taylor said she also volunteers at Richmond County Hospice.
