Youth Tour

It's never too early to start encouraging high school level juniors to participate in the Youth Tour essay competition. If you have a child of your own, or know someone that is a junior in high school this year, please let them know they should consider participating in the Youth Tour essay contest.

Re-cap of 2010

June 11-17, 2010, 80 high school juniors participated in Missouri's forty-seventh annual Missouri Electric Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. Consolidated Electric Cooperative sponsored delegates Nicole Swarthout and Casey Henderson, both from Wellsville, MO.

The six-day tour provided an action-filled week for high school students, offering them opportunities to learn first-hand what it is like to be involved in politics, community service and today's pressing issues. Highlights included a special session on Capitol Hill with Senators Christopher Bond and Claire McCaskill to discuss the process of government and issues of the day and increasing their knowledge of cooperative electric utilities and American history.

The young people also toured famous monuments, visited the Smithsonian  museums and Arlington National Cemetery. The group also took a sightseeing and dance cruise on the Potomac River one evening with delegates from 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 1,500 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.