Youth Tour

Youth Tour Gives Students a Close-up View of the Nation's Capital

In 1957, then Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, D-Texas, urged directors and staff of the nation's electric cooperatives to bring young people to Washington to get a first-hand look at how government works.

"If one thing goes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents,'' Johnson said at the annual meeting of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

In Johnson's home state, the electric cooperatives heeded his call by sending groups of young people to Washington to work during the summer in Johnson's office. In 1958, a rural electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored a week-long tour of the nation's capital for a group of 34 students. Later that same year, another busload came to Washington from Illinois. The idea soon caught on and other states began sending groups of young people to Washington throughout the summer. By 1959, the Youth Tour comprised 130 students.

In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested that cooperative representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington during Youth Tour week. During the first year of the coordinated tour, cooperatives from 12 states sent about 400 young people to participate. Word of the program has continued to spread. Today, more than 1,500 young people and their chaperones attend the Youth Tour every year.

What is the Washington Youth Tour?

The Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives Washington Youth Tour is an annual, weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, that is open to high school students across Louisiana.

Ten of Louisiana's 12 electric cooperatives participate in the Youth Tour. Each electric cooperative has a unique method of selecting the student or students they will sponsor. ALEC will sponsor four students statewide: two from 4-H and two from FFA. Agents of both organizations will have application forms. You can also find these forms on the Louisiana 4-H and the Louisiana FFA websites. Nationwide, electric co-ops from 45 states participate in this event. In all, more than 1,500 young people from across the nation gather in Washington each year.

Louisiana's electric cooperatives send students to Washington for a number of reasons, including

• Rewarding students for academic achievement through a writing contest;
• Educating students about the role of electric co-ops in the national economy;
• Fostering students' appreciation for the democratic form of government;
• Exposing students to the sights and sounds of our nation's heritage; and
• Building students' leadership skills so that they may make a difference in their communities.

Student may apply to be Louisiana's representative to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Leadership Council (YLC). The YLC is composed of one representative from each of the 45 states that participate in the Youth Tour. YLC members have the opportunity for additional free travel and leadership training.

YLC Activities

NRECA Youth Leadership Conference
July 17-21, 2010 -- Washington, DC

At this workshop, all 45 YLC representatives will have the opportunity to hone their public speaking skills, develop their leadership skills, and enhance their understanding of politics. Group recreational activities will also be provided.

Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting July 26, 2010 in Baton Rouge at the Hilton Capitol Center Louisiana's YLC representative will deliver a brief (5-7 minutes) speech about his or her experiences in Washington, DC, at this meeting of electric cooperative leaders from across Louisiana.

The 2009-2010 YLC representative, Carlin LeDoux, from DeRidder, Louisiana. He will attend the NRECA Annual Meeting from Feb. 11-17, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.

All 45 YLC representatives will assist the NRECA staff with the conduct of the NRECA annual meeting. YLC responsibilities at this six-day meeting will include participating in the meeting's opening assembly, staffing information booths, learning about energy issues, and assisting with committee meetings. Group recreational activities will also be provided.

Who sponsors WYT?

The Washington Youth Tour is sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative (ALEC), and most of the Louisiana's electric distribution cooperatives.

How do I Apply?

If you are a high school student, contact your local Electric Membership Cooperative for eligibility requirements. If you are a 4-H or FFA participant, you can also apply for the youth tour trip through the statewide contest. Contact your 4-H Agent or your FFA Advisor for the application forms. You do not need to be a member of an electric cooperative to apply through the statewide contest.

If you want to know whether or not you're eligible for this trip or if you need information about procedures and deadlines, your best bet is to contact the Washington Youth Tour coordinator at your local electric cooperative.

If, however, your question is of a more general nature, please feel free to contact us at the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative. If you prefer you may also contact us by phone at 800-355-3450 ext. 18, or e-mail: Sandy Stockwell at sandys@alec.coop

Participating cooperatives are listed below:

Beauregard Electric - kayfox@beci.org
Claiborne Electric - joeywhite@claiborneelectric.org
DEMCO - davidl@demco.org
Jeff-Davis Electric - jeffdec@bellsouth.net
Northeast La. Power - swilliamson@nelpco.coop
Pointe Coupee Electric - jbishop@pcemc.org
South La. Electric Cooperative - erobertson@sleca.com
Valley Electric - llee@valleyelectric.coop
Washington St. Tammany Electric - cschloegel@wste.coop
ALEC - sandys@alec.coop

Testimony from past participants:

Julie Barrios, Sabine Parish    Sponsored by ALEC on the 2009 Youth Tour through the 4-H Contest

Washington D.C.- What an amazing place! It would be great to tour this amazing city by yourself, but I had so much more fun touring it with about 30 of my closest friends! That’s what the Rural Electric Youth Tour trip gave to me- a once in a lifetime experience, new friends, and awesome memories.

Coming from a small town in Northwest Louisiana, I always aspired to travel to far away places. After writing an essay and winning a trip to D.C., I was so excited. I was literally jumping up and down with anticipation for my journey to begin. When it finally did, I could not have asked for a more wonderful time. I remember walking through the Capitol Building thinking, ‘Wow. This is the same hallway where my forefathers walked…where laws were passed…where history was made.’ Needless to say, all throughout the trip I had moments like these. I would go from laughing with my friends to quietly reflecting. When we went to Arlington Cemetery, I had a major reflection moment at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was truly a moving experience to watch the changing of the guard.

All of the experiences from the trip were made a thousand times better by having my friends with me. However, the teens I traveled with were not always my friends; at first, we were complete strangers! At a pre-trip meeting in Baton Rouge we sort of got to know each other, but we truly bonded after spending many hours together on a bus while traveling to D.C. I was a little nervous about the bus ride, especially since I didn’t really know anyone. By the end of the week, though, I had so many best friends. Since the end of the trip, we’ve still kept in contact, and even hang out. Making new friends on this trip was a great experience.

With the combination of a great location and great people, we were destined to have great times! And we had a lot of them! From singing about our bus, to dancing the night away on a cruise ship, I brought home better memories than souvenirs. My all-time favorite memory from the trip was a quiet one, though. I remember standing at the foot of the Iwo Jima memorial and watching the Marine Corp Band practicing on the lawn. Sitting there with my friends, everyone amazed at the beautiful precision and pride of the military, I thought about the great nation that I belong to, the freedoms that I have, and the gift I had been given to sit in the midst of where it all began. The Rural Electric Youth Tour trip was more than a trip to me; it was a pilgrimage to the governmental seat of our nation. I’ll always remember my friends, the sights we saw, and the tears that came to my eyes when I realized the historical significance of  where I was.

It is great to be part of something larger than yourself, but to be part of something larger than yourself and turn it into something that is your own is truly special. This is exactly my experience with the electric cooperatives. Starting off with my small hometown co-op I was fortunate enough to be selected to represent them and my state in Washington D.C. on the NRECA annual Youth Tour. At this Youth Tour I was introduced to the world of electric co-ops and learned their impact on our rural communities and our country. From the Youth Tour I was blessed once again and was chosen to represent my state on the Youth Leadership Council (YLC). If the Youth Tour wasn’t already enough, the YLC went above and beyond any expectations that I could have held. From my participation in the YLC, I was later selected to come back and assist the program for a couple of years as one of the staff. In all of these many experiences, I was able to see much of our beautiful country and experience history first-hand in our nation’s capital. Not only that, but I made many rich and lasting friendships that I value greatly.

My time with the electric co-ops was an important part of my life which opened many doors. The most significant early on was an internship on Capitol Hill one summer during college. All of these experiences stemmed from that one essay contest in my hometown and blossomed into years of wonderful experiences and a lifetime of friends and memories. All in all, the electric cooperatives granted me a life-changing experience for which I am forever grateful. It opened my eyes to the world and piqued my interests in travel, politics, and the concern for helping others who might otherwise not have been helped. I have traveled to several different countries including Egypt, Italy, France, and England among others and am now in my second year of medical school. Without the co-ops and the opportunities they afforded me, I’m not sure where I would be today.