Turn of the ‘page’; FH middle schooler on call in Olympia

Published 12:14 pm Friday, March 13, 2015

Friday Harbor’s Max Mattox served as a page in the Washington state Senate during the week beginning Feb. 23.

His weeklong experience in the legislature was sponsored by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island.

“It was a pleasure to sponsor Max this week,” Ranker said. “He was a great help to me and my staff and I hope he enjoyed his time in Olympia.”

During the week, pages assist senators and staff, attend lectures with guest speakers and go to “page school,” where they create legislation of their own in a mock committee setting.

Max, a 14-year-old Friday Harbor Middle School student, drafted a bill that would ban all types of cell phones from vehicles.

“Studies have shown that even talking on a hands-free cell phone can cause accidents, because it’s still distracted driving,” said Max, who has four cousins that participated in the page program previously and encouraged him to join.

Max said the most challenging part of the program was figuring out where to make deliveries in the Legislative Building.

“I had to ask the security guards for directions several times, they were very friendly and knowledgeable,” he said. “They were easy to talk to.”

In his leisure time, Max, who has a black belt in Taekwondo, plays the piano and enjoys soccer, basketball and paintball.