Four Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) seniors are representing the school system this year in the Maryland General Assembly’s Student Page Program. Students in the program, including the alternate, participate in the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session.
The following students were selected to participate in this year’s program.
- Paola Cercos Teverino, senior, North Point High School.
- Neala Rooney, senior, La Plata High School.
- Semaj Thomas, senior, La Plata.
- Noah Williams, senior, North Point, alternate.
Selected pages serve two nonconsecutive weeks during the 13 weeks of the legislative session. The session runs from the second week in January to early April, each page serves one week during the first seven weeks and returns for a second week of service during the last six.
More than 100 Maryland high school students participate in the program annually, each serving as a representative of their respective school system. Three representatives are chosen from each school system with a fourth student serving as an alternate. Students can apply during their senior year and the selection process is competitive. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in the program and interview before a panel of judges.
Students will be assigned to work with either the Maryland Senate or the House of Delegates during the session. The program allows students to participate in daily legislative sessions, follow-up discussions about law-making processes, presentations by, and discussions with, legislators and legislative staff, and to attend various committee hearings and proceedings.
Paola Cercos Teverino
As someone who is interested in law and at the urging of “an amazing teacher” teacher who encouraged her, Paola Cercos Teverino applied for the Maryland General Assembly Student Page program. She wants to go to a four-year college to study civic engagement, government, or political science and she thought that the page program would be good to be a part of to learn more about her future career field of choice.
For college, Teverino wants to attend a four-year school either in a different city or on a different coast. Being named as a student page gave her the confidence to apply to her top schools. “I am excited for the experience,” she said. “I am excited to be on the floor when the assembly is in session.” Teverino said that she is excited to be present and meet other pages and find out their plans and what they think about the program too.
As a multi-sport athlete, she is the captain of the flag football team at North Point and a part of the girls varsity basketball at the school. She is president of the Spanish Honors Society an organization that holds ESL nights and outreach events in the community, and she is also secretary of the National Honors Society (NHS).
When she attended school in Virginia, she was in a peer program for students in the special education program as well as a math tutor for students. She wants to get involved in Mock Trial in college and pursue her undergraduate degree. Following graduation, Teverino plans to attend law school to go into law or politics.
Noah Williams
Noah Williams, an alternate for the program, said that he was surprised to even be named an alternate because of the limited number of spots available. “Only three pages [not including the alternate] get selected for the program and I knew a few people from the school and across the county were applying so I was really surprised to be selected,” he said. As the alternate, representatives from the program can call him either week to join, so he wants to make sure that he is available and ready for the opportunity.
Williams is heavily involved in the student life at North Point. As a contributing leader on the Mock Trial team and president of the African Student Association (ASA) he makes sure that he leads in every area. Williams said that he joined ASA a couple of years ago and was interested in how the program brought more visibility to African, African American and Caribbean culture.
“I want to go into law school and maybe go into politics,” Williams said. He has interests in entering the medical malpractice field or civil law. After a family member filed a medical malpractice suit, he became more interested in the field. “The systems that were in place at the time were not specific to their needs,” he said. He has applied to colleges and universities to attend after high school around the East Coast to major in political science or public policy.
Neala Rooney
As a potential future lawyer and protector of human rights, Neala Rooney wanted to apply for the student page program to grow her knowledge of the world of politics. “I was very excited because it goes along with my career goals in political science,” she said. After high school she wants to attend a four-year college and go to law school. “I want to protect communities who do not have a voice,” she said.
She wants to be involved in internships to immerse herself in the field of politics and the page program was the first step to learning more about that world. “I am excited to spend a week in Annapolis and learn more about how people make decisions and their response to the current condition of politics in Maryland,” Rooney said.
At La Plata she is also involved in Mock Trial, Teen Court with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and she has participated in Unified track and bocce.
Semaj Thomas
Semaj Thomas wants to have a future as a policy maker who helps create laws that support innovation and sustainable technology for the community.
From a young age his interest in policy was sparked after his grandfather worked in the government. Thomas wanted to learn more about how the legislative process works and how the government effects people. As a student enrolled in the CCPS Early College Program at the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) he is set to finish with an associates degree in business administration before his senior year ends.
After high school he plans to build on his business administration degree or go into engineering and minor in international relations at the University of Maryland, College Park. At CSM he is the treasurer for the business and accounting club and a student government association (SGA) representative. He was also an SGA liaison for the Class of 2026 during his time at North Point in his sophomore year.
Thomas said that he is most excited to network with the other pages, the senators and house of representatives. “I want to hear their opinions on certain topics, talk to them in person and learn more about what their jobs are like and what a day in the life looks like for them,” he said.
When he heard that he was selected for the program he was really surprised. “When I got selected, I didn’t realize how selective the program was at first and then I got a congratulations from the Board and from my school,” Thomas said. “I looked up the program and saw where I would be staying and thought that this is going to be a really cool opportunity.”
