Page tells students he is proof they can do great things

Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page appeared at his last "traveling" oral argument today.

In a question-and-answer session at Edison High School, Page used his own example to show students that, no matter how humble their start, they have the potential to do great things.

"It's funny the connections we make through life," said Page, who is retiring this summer from the bench. "Here is this kid from Canton, Ohio, who stumbled into playing football, had an interest in the law, and ultimately ends up here on the Minnesota Supreme Court."

Page, a former Minnesota Viking, leaves a lasting legacy. Besides his work on the court, he created a foundation that provides educational scholarships for students of color. He also wrote the children's book, "Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky," inspired by his little finger, which after numerous football injuries juts out at 90 degrees.

But even after 22 years of serving on the bench, Page said being a justice hasn't changed him.

"It's a part of who I am, but not who I am," he told the students.

Page will be 70 in August, prompting his mandatory retirement from the bench.

Michael Walker, director of the Office of Black Male Student Achievement at Minneapolis Public Schools, presented Page with an award for his commitment to education and for inspiring countless young people. Walker, his wife and younger brother were all Page scholars who received financial help to attend college.

"He's impacted my entire family," Walker said.

Page's convictions for equal justice came early in life. He told the students he was 9 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark ruling in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education, ending school segregation.

"The power of that decision has inspired me throughout my life," he told a student who asked him what motivated him to become a justice. "[It's] something I think of on a regular basis as a justice, as sort of the underpinnings of ensuring that we, as justices, represent all of society."

After retirement, Page expects to play a bigger role with the Page Education Foundation, which he and his wife Diane founded in 1988.

"The only way we are going to solve the problems that we as a society face is by ensuring that all of our young people, no matter who they are and no matter where they come from, fully participate in our community," he said in an interview. "One way to ensure that is to ensure educational opportunity, so I will be spending a fair amount of time making sure that happens."