6 Pages To Serve In 2023 Maryland General Assembly From Harford County

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Six high school seniors were recently selected to serve as student pages for the 2023 Maryland General Assembly.

The students include Matthew Botteon and Braelyn Howard of C. Milton Wright High School; Grace Callwood of Edgewood High School; Sara King of Fallston High School; Molly Martin of Havre de Grace High School; and Mark Matysek of Patterson Mill High School.

Pages were chosen after going through an application process that included a written test
and an oral interview before a 10-person committee consisting of peers and educators
from across the county who tested the applicants on their knowledge of politics and other
various topics. Based on a published rubric, the five highest scorers were chosen to be pages; the sixth highest score on the rubric is the alternate who will replace anyone who cannot serve due to illness.

“As a political science teacher, I am passionate about the Student Page Program,” said Michael
Brogley, coordinator of the Student Page Program in Harford County and C. Milton Wright High
School social studies teacher. “Pages, I urge you to live in the moment during this experience, to
really take it all in.”

Matthew Botteon, 18, is president of the Senior Class Council and a member of the
National Honor Society, the Math Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society. He serves in
the organization Volun-teen and enjoys volunteering his time to community-based projects like
Thanksgiving in a Box and Bailey’s Heart and Sole 5K Run. Botteon plans to study
computer science at a four-year university next year.

Grace Callwood, 18, is senior class president of the Student Government Association and
serves as officer for Mock Trial and the Black Student Alliance at her school. She is
as a member of the National Honor Society, the French Honor Society and the Rho Kappa
Social Students Honor Society. Callwood also is in the concert/marching band and on the
Women’s Lacrosse Team. Beyond the school walls, Callwood runs a youth-led nonprofit
called the We Cancerve Movement, Inc. that works to bring happiness and swift solutions to
homeless, sick and foster children. Through her non-profit, she has been able to serve more than 26,000 youth in need since 2012. Callwood hopes to attend Howard University, Princeton
University, Georgetown University or Northeastern University to major in political science and
minor in sociology on the pre-law track.

Braelyn Howard, 17, is president of the National Honor Society, captain of the Envirothon Team, committee head of the Tri-M Music National Honor Society, section leader of marching band, and advisor of her school’s Writing Center. In addition, she is a member of
the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Safety Council, the Senior Class Council, the Math
National Honor Society, the Science National Honor Society, the French National Honor
Society, Math League and French Club. Previously, she served as president of the Junior Class
Council. Howard is on the varsity swimming and cross country teams and in the
chamber/symphony orchestra. Outside of school, she has more than 650 hours of community
service as a front desk and patient area volunteer at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, an intern
at Laurel Medical Associates, as assistant senior patrol leader of Harford Day Scout Camp, and a
Special Olympics Maryland volunteer. She has also supported the Harford County Teen Court,
the Harford County Farm Fair, the Harford County Public Library and the Eden Mill Nature
Center. Howard is a swim instructor and lifeguard, as well as a Chick-fil-A team member.
She has committed to Wake Forest University to study business on the pre-med track.

Sara King, 17, is vice president of the Student Government Association and a member of
the National Honor Society, FBLA, the National Business Honor Society and the Science Honor
Society. She is also on the varsity tennis team. Outside of school, King works as a
lifeguard and also managed the social media campaign for a county councilman. Following
graduation, King hopes to attend Penn State University or the University of Virginia.

Molly Martin, 17, is president of the orchestra, vice president of the National Honor
Society and serves as a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, Academic Team and
speech and debate team. She is also the music department aide for Havre de Grace
Middle/High School. Martin is on the varsity girls soccer and tennis teams. In the
community, she has served as a Harford Glen Counselor, a Havre de Grace Independence Day
volunteer, a holiday tree jubilee volunteer, and a Havre de Grace Candlelight Tour volunteer.
She also has a part-time job at Keyes Creamery. Martin hopes to attend the University of
Maryland, College Park to study government and politics/political science.

Mark Matysek, 17, is flute section leader for his school’s marching band and is captain of
the wrestling team. He also plays football and runs track. Matysek hopes to attend
University of Maryland to study political science.

The pages will serve in the 2023 legislative session that will begin in early January and continue
through April. They will spend two, non-consecutive weeks with host families in Annapolis
while serving in either the House of Delegates or the Maryland Senate.