New Rochelle student Stephanie Henry spent a semester as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives. Here’s the news from Preston High School in the Bronx, where Stephanie is a junior:

Sept. 22, 2009 — While students were gathering last minute school supplies and picking out their clothes for the first days of school, Preston High School junior, Stephanie Henry, was packing up all of her belongings, saying goodbye to friends and family, and preparing for her semester in Washington, D.C. where she will serve as a page for Congressman Crowley and attend House Page school with 64 other students from all over the world.

Stephanie Henry is representing our area in the U.S. House of Representatives as a House Page. Pages have been serving the House of Representatives for nearly two hundred years. According to the House Page Program website, in order to be considered for a Page, one must be a high school junior, be at least 16 years of age, and have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

The application process was comprehensive and swift as Stephanie learned about the opportunity from Linda Youngren, Dean of Studies at Preston High School, this past spring and interviewed with Crowley’s office and earned the honor of serving as House Page.

A typical day for Henry starts at 6:45 a.m. Pages are required to attend Page School, which is located in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. She attends school from 6:45 a.m. – 9 a.m. Pages also live in the House Page Residence Hall, located a few blocks from the Capitol and the Library of Congress.

From school, you must report to work by 9:30 a.m. Henry’s duties as a Page are to run errands for Congressmen, collect statements, and serve as messengers. Henry says a typical day ends at around 5:30 p.m. However, some occasions call for long, stressful days. Stephanie was present at the September 9^th joint session of Congress where Obama gave his speech on health care (and South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson subsequently shouted, “You lie,” in reaction to part of Obama’s speech).

“What I am most proud of at this time is Stephanie’s determination, maturity and poise,” says Jenny Henry, Stephanie’s mother. “She has taken on this challenge and so far, has made a success of it.  The experiences she will have during this semester and the friends she has made from the cadre of other Pages will, I am sure, be highlights in her life.”

When Henry isn’t trekking through the halls of the House, she certainly stays busy here at home as well. Stephanie is involved in Aspira, a national association that promotes education and leadership development among Latino youth, Student Council, National Honor Society, and serves as a HOBY Ambassador and works as a mentor with Big Sisters/Little Sisters.

Preston High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school for girls located in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. For more information about Preston High School, contact Mary-Kate Boland at (718) 863-9134×143, or email mboland@prestonhs.org.

[Press release courtesy of Preston High School.]