Two Coeur d'Alene students to serve as legislative pages in Boise

Two Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy seniors, Isabel Trinidad and Gabrielle Hill, were selected to serve in the Legislative Page Program in the Idaho House of Representatives as the 2026 session began. The students will spend about six weeks during the first half of the session in Boise, performing duties that include delivering messages, running errands, making copies, assisting legislators and aiding committee secretaries as they set up and take down meetings.

The page program gives high school students a close-up look at lawmaking and daily operations on the Hill. For Trinidad and Hill, the experience is meant to complement classes and student-government roles they have held at school, providing a practical bridge between civics lessons and the real-time work of state government. Two graduates from Coeur d'Alene Charter’s class of 2021 are also working in staff roles at the legislature this session, underscoring a local pipeline from Kootenai County schools to careers in state government.

For Kootenai County residents, the short-term presence of local students in Boise matters beyond a resume boost. Pages bring a youth perspective at a moment when lawmakers are debating issues that affect young people’s health and education: school-based mental health services, access to youth behavioral health care, rural clinic capacity and education funding. Even in nonpartisan roles, pages can sharpen legislators’ awareness of how policy choices play out in classrooms and communities across the county.

The program also highlights broader equity and access questions. Opportunities like the page program can serve as a path to public-sector careers, but their benefits depend on students’ ability to travel to Boise and miss classroom time without losing ground. Ensuring that students from lower-income families or more remote parts of Kootenai County can participate, through transportation support, stipends or flexible school credit policies, would help diversify the voices present during important policy debates.

Local educators and families can watch how Trinidad and Hill’s experience translates back to Coeur d'Alene classrooms and student government. Their time at the Capitol may influence civic engagement among peers and provide practical examples for class discussions about state policy and public health priorities.

Our two cents? Encourage young people to step into civic spaces and ask your school or local representatives how communities can remove barriers to those opportunities. When more Kootenai voices show up on the Hill, policy decisions on health, education and equity stand to be stronger and more representative.