Editor’s Note: The Daily News is running an in-depth series on young scholars who participated in the Governor’s Page Program. Previously featured were Jack Rodman and Montgomery McClure. Today, Dylan Cutler and Jay Campbell are featured. Future editions will feature legislative pages Sarah Jennings and Katie Tate.
While most high-school students are winding down the school year during spring, Dylan Cutler and Jay Campbell were winding it up.
The rising juniors at Washington High School joined classmates Jack Rodman and Montgomery McClure for a week in Raleigh in the Governor’s Page Program, a yearly program in which high-school students lend a helping hand in the state government.
“By participating in the page program, high-school students from all parts of North Carolina have the opportunity to see firsthand how our government and government agencies work,” reads a news release from the office of Gov. Beverly Perdue. “These students represent North Carolina’s future, and it is important for them to understand how our state functions.”
Cutler was the catalyst for recruiting the Pam Pack students into the program.
“I got into it because mom’s former student and friend told her about it,” Cutler said. “He said it was a great program, and it was.”
“Jack (Rodman) and Dylan found out about it, and we wanted to do it,” Campbell said. “I heard they were doing it, and I wanted to do it. It was interesting. You get to be on the inside and see how everything is run.”
Students must apply for the program. Those who are accepted are allowed to participate twice during their high-school years. They spend most of their days handling administrative duties like mail delivery and making photocopies.
“I hadn’t thought about (a career in) politics, but it is a consideration maybe,” Cutler said. “I’m thinking about doing (the page program) again next year.”
Cutler is a three-sport star at WHS: football, wrestling and track. He is involved with student government and the Science Olympiad team. Outside school, Cutler is a Life Scout in the Boy Scouts, serves as a volunteer at the hospital and participates in the youth group at Washington’s First United Methodist Church.
Campbell is an honor student at WHS. He’s on the wrestling team. An acolyte at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington, Campbell is in the church’s youth group and a staff member for Happening, a twice-a-year youth event sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. On track to graduate in 2013, Campbell is considering studying civil engineering at N.C. State University or pharmacy at Campbell University.
Cutler feels the opportunity to serve as a page was worthwhile, as he came away with a better appreciation for the state government.
“Seeing into the world of North Carolina government, I was never really familiar with it beforehand and glad I got a look at it,” Cutler said. “(Students) should look into it and try it. All high-school students should at least experience it.”
Campbell described a normal day during his week in Raleigh:
“We would go to the administration building and take mail out, or would go to our department contacts and do work for them or tour the buildings,” Campbell said. “People would talk to us about different things, and we would eat in downtown Raleigh. That was good.”
All in all, the experience was a positive one.
“It was fun and I would like to do it again,” Campbell concluded. “You get a better background on how things are run in our state.”
Any advice for fellow students considering the program?
“Wear good shoes because you walk a lot,” he said.