BY JASON THOMPSON
Alexandra Schwabe, a Grade 8 student at Carl A. Nesbitt Public School, has spent the past two weeks working as a page in the Ontario Legislature, participating in the legislative process, acting as a messenger, meeting with politicians, learning how laws are made and how the province is governed.
?It?s been really fun. All of the MPPs are really friendly,? said Alexandra during a weekend visit home to see her family.
The Page Program is open to Ontario students in Grades 7 and 8 who have with an academic standing of 80 percent or higher.
Ideal applicants are actively involved in extra-curricular activities in the community as well as being interested in current affairs and working well with both their peers and adults.
?Alexandra is an excellent candidate for this position, she will do an amazing job representing our school and Northern Ontario,? said Denise Puizzi-Goodmurphy, principal of Carl A. Nesbitt. ?She is loved and adored by parents, teachers and students alike.?
Puizzi-Goodmurphy said Alexandra?s position at Queen?s Park has many of her classmates watching televised legislative proceedings hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
?A lot of kids are watching her on TV and following the parliament business,? said Puizzi-Goodmurphy.
?Discussion is happening in the classroom and the teachers are making links to what they are observing and what is being said to their study unit.?
Alexandra said the most exciting part of the experience has been meeting MPPs, including Premier Dalton McGuinty who stopped to talk with the pages.
Alexandra?s father, Markus, host of CBC Radio One?s Morning North, said his daughter was surprised the premier took the time to talk.
?What?s the premier doing talking to us when he could be doing more important things?? Alexandra asked her dad after her first day at Queen?s Park.
Alexandra is living with the family of another page, Amanda Kelly, in Burlington, during her six-week assignment at Queen?s Park.
Although she does get homesick, Alexandra said her host family has made her time away from home easier.
?The people I?m staying with are really nice and their daughter Amanda is in the program as well and I?ve become really good friends with her.?
During her time in the GTA, Alexandra has been granted leave from school although she and other pages take classes on the legislative process, social studies, the arts and math.
?It?s been really eye-opening. Before I wasn?t that interested in politics, but now I might consider it as a future career,? said Alexandra. ?I?d recommend it to everybody.?
