by Carrie Moritz
Last week, Garretson High School junior Morgan Damman had the opportunity to serve as a Legislative Page in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Legislative Pages are an educative portion of each session, allowing high school students throughout the state to have a chance to experience the inner workings of our state government.
"I plan on studying law in the future and lead into politics and government so this was a no brainer for me to go," said Damman. She was encouraged to apply to the program by GHS History teacher Tim Hughes, who also wrote a letter of recommendation for her application.
"He knows I plan on going into that field," she said.
Each Page is sponsored by a state senator or representative, and is appointed to either the House or the Senate during one of five terms. In her term, there were 14 students serving in the House and 12 in the Senate, according to Damman. This competitive program must be applied for early in the fall, and Garretson juniors and seniors are often encouraged to apply. GHS student Maddie Decker also served earlier in the session.
Damman was sponsored by Rep. Doug Barthel from District 10, but met and worked with District 25 Representatives Tom Pischke and Jon Hansen.
"At first I was intimidated by the reps, but Pischke and Hansen both were really friendly to me because they're Minnehaha reps," she commented. "We even have a running argument about which one of them was my favorite. Pischke did give me a cookie before I left so I think he's in the lead." She followed that with an observation on how respectful all the representatives were to each other and their opinions, which was something she wasn't expecting.
The most interesting part of the program to her was learning about the bills that don't make the headlines, such as limiting elk tags or how close crops can grow to roads. She also answered phones, speaking with callers about their preferences or complaints.
Her proud hometown moment came when she was asked about the Palisades Road (485th Avenue) bill that is making its way through the House thanks to Rep Pischke. This bill requests that the state continue to support having a paved road in the future, not only for the benefit of those who live in the area, but also for State parkgoers. Although the park entrance will be moving to 484th Avenue and 256th Street, the Lodge and maintenance sheds are both located off 485th Avenue.
"I told them everyone knows how bad that road is," she said.
Damman, who plays on the Garretson Blue Dragon soccer team, also encouraged the District 25 representatives to attend more games.
"I called them out on it," she laughed. She said they both agreed, especially since soccer is a combined Garretson/Dell Rapids team. Both representatives call Dell Rapids home.
When asked if she would recommend the program to her classmates, she gave an emphatic yes.
"I would definitely recommend it even if you're not interested in politics because you should know how things are working in our state so when you can vote you know what's happening," she said.
