HHNE student to become Senate Page

Miriam Young, 16, a junior at Hebrew High School of New England (HHNE) in West Hartford, CT, has been selected to participate in the prestigious Senate Page Program in Washington, D.C.

Appointed by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Young will join 29 other accomplished students from around the country in the spring Page session from February to June 2014. 

Young, the daughter of Michael Young and Ruth Alcabes of West Hartford, has been interested in politics since she was a youngster, most particularly in its history and in policy, she says. She acknowledges that this is a very important time to be in Washington, D.C., to have a first-hand view of procedures and policies and to return with a more in-depth understanding of government and politics which will be of great importance as she pursues her higher education. "I'm honored to have the incredible opportunity to witness history up close, and I am so excited to have a new and interesting experience in our nation's capital."

Young (HHNE Class of 2015) presently has a dual curriculum of general and Judaic studies. She has taken AP Government and Politics and is currently taking AP U.S. History, among other challenging courses.

Although the over 100-year old Senate Page program is non-partisan, the pages traditionally are divided to serve the party that appointed them; 16 for the majority and 14 for the minority.

When the Senate is in session, pages typically attend school from 6:15 A.M. to 9:45 A.M. Some of the Page duties include delivery of correspondence and legislative materials within the Capital, prepping the Senate Chamber for session, taking messages for Senators, and carrying bills and amendments from the presiding officer's desk. Pages are required to work into the early hours of the morning in cases of important business, filibusters and emergency situations.

"Miriam is enthusiastically civic-minded and her selection as a Senate Page will enable her to fulfill her passion for government and politics. I know that this will be a wonderfully educational experience for Miriam and it will enable her to further her ambitious aspirations," says Rabbi Daniel Loew, Head of School of HHNE.

                                                                                 

Young is currently an intern for the Democratic State Central Committee in Hartford, developing youth resources, assisting with the coordination of social media, participating in outreach and conducting research. This year she is also serving as Chief of Staff of the national board of the High School Democrats of America. She previously was an intern for the Field Office of the Democratic Campaign Headquarters in West Hartford during the Obama 2012 campaign. In 2012, she was also selected to participate in a two-week long symposia at the RNC and DNC Jewish Teen Leadership Conference.

In addition to her accelerated studies, Young is a Hebrew school teacher for grades 3-7 at Congregation Beth Am in Windsor, CT, teaching Ethics, Jewish Life Cycle and Jewish Culture as well as a youth counselor at the Young Israel of West Hartford. She is active in the youth theatre program at the Jewish Community Center in West Hartford and plays Varsity Girls Soccer for HHNE.