Fall Mountain Student Saw Government Firsthand as a U.S. Senate Page
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Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
February 13, 2008
WASHINGTON – Firefighter class…. YMCA Youth and Government…. Play practice. William Carmody, of Walpole, New Hampshire, is very busy but in a different way from when he would have to wake up at 5 a.m. anticipating a long day at the United States Senate.
Last semester Carmody, a junior at Fall Mountain Regional High School, was part of an elite group of high school juniors, aged 16 or 17, serving as pages in the Senate.
“I didn’t get to see the finer fighting and deal making behind the scenes but I did get to see firsthand the end result,” said Carmody, who was appointed a page by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. “I saw a 2 hour and 45 minute debate on how global warming didn’t exist and the rebuttal was 2 hours and 30 minutes about how it did exist.”
To become a page Carmody filled out “a lot” of paperwork, sent in an essay on why he wanted to be in the program (he borrowed the “hope” theme from the book and movie “The Shawshank Redemption”), a copy of his transcript and two letters of recommendation. Then he was off to Concord along with four other candidates for interviews with Carol Carpenter, Gregg’s state director.
“Sen. Gregg’s office looks for enthusiastic and well-rounded candidates and Will fit the mold perfectly,” said Laena Fallon, Gregg’s press secretary. “Will has a keen interest in government and a strong desire to learn more about how it functions.” The program, which only accepts 30 pages each semester, is extremely competitive. Fallon said that Carmody’s academic, athletic and community experience “really set him apart from other applicants.”
Active in politics at home, Carmody is gearing up for a campaign. Last year when Carmody participated in Youth and Government, a mock legislative and executive program, he was a senator. This year he is running for governor.
The program includes students from all over the state who write legislation, then meet in Concord to discuss and debate it. The governor will be elected at the preliminary session March 15 and the mock legislative session runs April 4 and 5.
“The campaign hasn’t quite gotten off the ground yet,” Carmody said, “but I’m hoping to start sending out emails, put something on YouTube.”
Carmody also is working to become a volunteer firefighter like his father, Bill Carmody, owner of Benchmark Custom Products Inc., which produces “custom labeled beverages,” soft drinks and carbonated waters. Because of funding cuts, Carmody cannot continue his training this spring to join the force as a firefighter, but he still is helping out around the fire station and in the community.
When he is not hard at work on his potential firefighting or political careers, Carmody is at play practice or thinking about colleges.
“I’m looking at the Coast Guard Academy,” Carmody said. “They have a wonderful program including theater and arts, which I’m very interested in.”
He also would like to learn to fly helicopters. “Flying in general has been a goal of mine for a job,” Carmody said. “I figure that’s a pretty good way to start off life and then I think I’d probably take a close look at a political career.”
Carmody’s fascination with politics and history can be traced back to the 5th grade and his teacher Mr. Hollis.
“Mr. Hollis was one of those wonderful people that really sort of inspired kids,” Carmody’s mother, Trina Carmody, said. “Right around there, Will started talking about…government and politics, how things work and how decisions were made.”
Trina Carmody, a guidance counselor at Will’s high school, happened upon the page program information while sorting through some papers that had been left behind by a previous counselor when she worked at ConVal Regional High School.
“It’s funny, I remember when I was a kid I heard about the pages that ran around the government and thought, ‘Wow, that’s so interesting,’” Trina Carmody said.
When Will expressed some interest in the program, she “filed” the idea away. As time passed they would occasionally mention the opportunity. When Carmody was a sophomore, and his interests tilted firmly toward politics and history, he decided to apply.
The Senate Page Program has a rich tradition, beginning in 1829 when Daniel Webster appointed the first page. The first mention of pages in the records of the House of Representatives was about the same time. According to the Web site of the clerk of the House, there were three pages working in the House in the 20th Congress, which served from 1827 to 1829.
Despite both programs’ reputation of excellence, the House Page Program has been involved in scandals in recent years. The latest was the exchange of explicit messages between Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and a 16-year-old male page in 2006.
“What I would really love to be accentuated about the page program is that there are the House pages and then there are the Senate pages,” Carmody said. “So far the Senate pages, to my knowledge: no scandals.”
Carmody said that there is not interaction between the Senate and House pages because they go to separate schools and work on opposite sides of the Capitol.
Though Trina Carmody was aware of the scandals and negative press, she had little reservations about sending her son off by himself.
“The people I communicated with, when I was asking questions through the application process, I was just so impressed,” she said. “And believe me, that’s a tight ship down there.”
Will Carmody focused on the opportunity ahead instead, a challenging political program that also functioned as a trial-run for college.
“It [the Senate Page Program] enhances opportunities to be involved and understand,” said Kathryn Weeden, principal of the United States Senate Page School, which the pages attend every morning before reporting to the Senate. “It affirms what they can do as individuals and how they can contribute.”
Senate pages serve mainly as messengers, running bills, notes and other documents to senators on the floor.
“We’d set up water and all the papers and things on senators’ desks and we’d run errands for the cloakroom,” Carmody said, explaining that each party has a cloakroom, a room off the Senate floor where members can relax and staffers “pretty much track who is going on the floor when and it’s their job to make sure the senators are there to vote on bills that are important.”
Senate pages work long days. At the Capitol, after morning classes, pages split along party lines, Democratic and Republican, and then further into two groups. One group from each party serves until 6 p.m. and then heads home. The “late group” stays until the Senate adjourns, which sometimes is late into the night. The next day the groups switch shifts.
“You get used to sleeping … five hours,” Carmody said. “We usually got less because, of course, we have to study. There’d be kids hiding in closets with their flashlights studying for the test tomorrow.”
As an integral part of the Senate dealings, pages are privy to a variety of proceedings and activity on the floor.
“It’s very neat, especially for someone who wants to have a career in politics,” Carmody said. “I saw a lot of speeches…I saw Bono, I saw President Bush, I saw the Dalai Lama. Bono and the Dalai Lama were probably two huge highlights.”
Carmody also got the chance to talk and interact with Gregg a few times. “Will is an extraordinary young man and was an excellent page.” Gregg said. “He did a terrific job balancing the academic demands of the page school with his duties and responsibilities on the Senate floor. Will always came to work with a great attitude and he was respectful and enthusiastic with anything asked of him.”
After working in Washington D.C. and at home on Youth and Government Carmody, who turns 18 in July, is ready for the next step: voting.
“My dad always valued voting no matter what it was: town meetings or voting for the next president,” Carmody said.
Bill Carmody said he learned the value of voting from his father, a businessman and policeman in Waltham, Mass.
“This country is really a great country, but a lot of people complain but don’t vote,” Bill Carmody said. “I harassed my wife [about voting] and encouraged Will.”
As for the 2008 presidential race, Will Carmody has mixed emotions.
“I am a very strong independent. I’m a very, very big fan of Obama. I’m praying that he gets the Democratic nomination,” Carmody said. “If he doesn’t, and McCain gets the Republican nomination, I might vote for McCain.”
He is also thinking about third party candidates. “I’ve always felt that the dual party system…doesn’t represent the people effectively. I’ve always thought that there should be more parties like many European countries,” Carmody said.
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