Late December, 2007, Jennifer Goebel received a call from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office in Washington D.C.The result of this call has created a lot of excitement at her school and in the community.

Jennifer, a junior at Plano West Senior High, was selected by Senator Hutchison as the US Senate Page representing Texas for the spring session, which runs from January 22 through June 6, 2008. She has accepted this appointment and will fly to Washington D.C. on January 21 to begin this opportunity.

“It’s tough to leave,” said Jennifer, who is involved with many school and community activities including: Syncopation (an elite singing group at PWSHS), Plano Metropolitan Ballet, Student Congress, NHS, Girl Scouts, and her church youth group and choir. Recently she became a sole proprietor of her own business, “All-American Dance Company” and signed a nationwide agreement with KinderCare to provide dance lessons to their students. She's recruited a partner for her business that will be able to take over while she's gone. She goes on to say how she’ll really miss her friends and family, especially her younger sister Julia.

“I keep getting asked if I’m interested in going into politics,” said Jennifer.She says politics are fun to watch, but she was really inspired by Mayor Pat Evans, for whom she produced an internet re-election campaign video.“Mayor Evans is unlike most politicians you’ll ever meet or hear about…she treats everyone with the greatest respect, including kids…and she gets a lot of things done, because they make sense and make our community better, not for political gain,” adds Jennifer.

She will join up to 29 other juniors from all over the US at Webster Hall, a dormitory and school near the U.S. Capitol. The junior-year curriculum is geared toward college preparation and emphasis is given to the unique learning opportunities available in Washington, DC. The Pages wake up at 5:00 am and their school day starts at 6:15 a.m., and she will begin her Senate duties at 10:00 a.m. When the Senate is in session for important business, filibusters, and emergency situations, Pages are sometimes required to work into the early hours of the morning.

Senate Pages play an important role in the daily operation of the Senate. Their duties consist primarily of delivery of correspondence and legislative material within the Congressional Complex. Also they prepare the Chamber for Senate sessions, deliver messages for Senators, or call them to the phone.They may also carry bills and amendments to the presiding officer's desk. Pages are salaried employees of the US Senate.