More than 2,000 youth delegates, chaperones and staff from 44 states will arrive in the Washington, D.C., area this weekend for the annual Electric Cooperative Youth Tour.
The June 14-23 gathering at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, is focused on connections.
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“As we head into our 61st year, we want delegates to connect with each other, American democracy and most importantly, connect with electric cooperatives and NRECA," said NRECA Youth Programs Manager Cale McCall.
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Organizers are planning new events to highlight this year's theme, including a service project. Youth Tour is partnering with Touchstone Energy® Cooperative and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to expand early childhood literacy. With support from their co-ops and local Imagination Library program partners, delegates will promote or support efforts to bring free books to children in their communities.
On the June 19 Youth Day, program delegates will hear from several speakers: NRECA CEO Jim Matheson, NRECA President Mike Partin, Youth Leadership Council spokesperson Maggie Martin, and motivational speaker Mike Schlappi, a wheelchair basketball player who has appeared in four consecutive summer Paralympic Games.
That same day, a career panel will feature several Youth Tour alumni: Anneliese Taggart, a Vatican correspondent; Sara Schafer, editor of Rural Missouri magazine, published by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives; and Pennsylvania state Rep. Jeremy Shaffer.
Panelists will discuss their Youth Tour experiences “and how the trip to D.C. empowered them to get to where they are today," McCall said.
During the June 20 Co-op Connections Night, representatives from NRECA, Touchstone Energy and co-ops in the region will be available to talk to delegates about careers.
For the first time, Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association's Laura Beth Laden and BJ Bernard are co-leading the state's Youth Tour delegation, one of the largest, with a total of 132 students.
“I'm so excited to be with our group and see the students come out of their shells and experience a true trip of a lifetime," Laden said. “While we as staff have seen Washington, D.C., several times, most of the students have never experienced it, and that's very humbling."
Indiana's 61-student delegation and eight chaperones will travel two days by bus for this year's Youth Tour. Along the way, they will stop at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and Gettysburg National Military Park.
“I'm excited for this trip," said Karlee Gable, youth and education specialist at Indiana Electric Cooperatives in Carmel. “I especially love seeing how the students' relationships grow from the first day to the last day. They start not knowing one another and that grows over the week into friendships that are sure to last a lifetime."
