OSA Students Become Honorary TN Senate Pages
By: Jackson Houston
On March 28th, a special group of middle and high schoolers who excel in history and government classes got the opportunity to go to Nashville to serve as Senate Pages for the Tennessee Senate. Upon arriving in the chambers, all members of the senate said the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America and to the state of Tennessee. Shortly after the senate session began, our students got introduced to the entire Senate before being assigned to finalize all bills that got passed.
When the students were not running bills to be finalized, they got a chance to soak in how our state Senate operates. The students observed how Senate members voted and watched the votes be tallied. Additionally, they got to see debates on a variety of issues between the two major parties.
State Senator Ken Yager, who sponsored the students, personally met all of the students and presented them with a certificate for being an honorary Senate Page at the end of the session. Afterwards, the students went to the Tennessee State Museum where they got to see a variety of exhibits ranging from settlers arriving in our area to the present day.
Lastly, they got to return to the state capitol to take a tour. They were able to see the House of Representatives Chambers, they learned the architectural history of the building, and students were especially surprised to find out that two key characters in the development of the capitol building were buried inside there.
Overall, our students felt greatly enfranchised to learn and care more about how our state runs its government. Thank you to all of the history teachers at Oliver Springs Academy for teaching our students to care about civic issues. Most importantly, thank you to Senator Ken Yager for giving our students the opportunity to go to the capitol and learn about our state government.
