Harford Page Program Sending 2 Aberdeen Students to Annapolis

Six Harford County high school students will get a head start on an education in politics at the 2012 Maryland General Assembly.

During a morning together with state delegates inside the cafeteria, this year's student pages met and ate breakfast with the elected official they will be supporting in the upcoming 90-day legislative session in Annapolis.

The pages will spend two non-consecutive weeks serving in the House of Delegates or the Maryland Senate to assist with various tasks.

"Many of our best and brightest seniors use this as a stepping stone to a career in government, or politics or whatever else interests them," said page program coordinator Patrick Whitehurst.

Two of the county pages are Aberdeen High School students. 

The students were required to complete an application and participate in an interview with a 12-person committee to be considered for the Harford County Public Schools page program.

Aberdeen High School senior Adam Hiob called the interview process "nerve-racking," but said he wants to see the delegation work on student government rights in the Harford County Board of Education.

"Someday I want to be able to follow in their footsteps and represent this area that I've been living in for over 10 years," said Aberdeen High School senior Belawoe Akwakoku.

Akwakoku said he is interested in illegal immigration discussions when they come up during the session.

"It's a little bit personal for me because both of my parents are immigrants and they've been in this country for a long time, so I would like to see how Maryland deals with the issue," said Akwakoku. "If they ask me, I'm going to tell them what I think. I'm going to be honest and open about it."

The other four high school seniors who were chosen to serve as student pages for the 2012 Maryland General Assembly are Christina McIntyre of Bel Air High School, Julius Halstead of Patterson Mill High School, Leanna Pecrino of Joppatowne High School and Erin Chase of North Harford High School.