One hundred and two high school students participated in Missouri’s 61st annual Missouri Electric Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., June 14-20. Local delegates were Aven Goodnight (Nixa), Bridgette Fitzpatrick (School of the Ozarks), and Gretchen House (Chadwick). They were sponsored by White River Valley Electric Cooperative.
The Missouri Electric Cooperative Youth Tour was a seven-day tour that provided an action-filled week for high school students. The tour offers students opportunities to learn firsthand what it is like to be involved in politics, leadership positions, community service and today’s pressing issues.
“The Youth Tour is the highlight of the summer for many students and we’re proud to send our best and brightest to our nation’s capital to participate,” said Chris Massman, vice president of Member Services for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. Massman also said, “Each of these delegates will meet someone or see something that inspires them, and in some cases will create a path to their future career.”
Highlights of the trip included the Missouri delegates visiting with representatives from their congressional districts, touring monuments, the Smithsonian Institution’s museums, Arlington National Cemetery and the International Spy Museum. The group also took a sightseeing and dance cruise on the Potomac River one evening with delegations from five other states.
Other events of the week included participation in the Electric Youth Day, during which a special program coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association brought together over 2,000 Youth Tour delegates from across the United States. The delegates enjoyed featured speeches by government leaders and motivational speakers, such as Mike Schlappi, an inspiring four-time Paralympic medalist and two-time world wheelchair basketball champion.
Since 1964, the nation’s cooperative electric utilities have sponsored more than 58,000 high school juniors and seniors for visits to their U.S. congressional delegations, energy and grassroots government education sessions and sightseeing in Washington. For more information about the Missouri Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program, please go to www.moyouthtour.com .
