A trip of a lifetime – an all-expense-paid tour of the nation’s capital -- awaits 44 high school juniors from Arkansas this summer. If you apply for the 2010 Youth Tour to Washington, you might be chosen for the week-long trip to Washington D.C. The trip, which is sponsored by the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, includes a guided tour of the U.S. Capitol as well as tours of all the major sites in Washington, such as Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home; the museums of the Smithsonian Institution and the Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam and World War II memorials.
This spring, Ouachita Electric Cooperative will select 2 high school juniors to attend the 2010 tour, which is set for June 9-17. The winners will be selected through an essay contest. Applicants must be high school juniors and their parents/guardians must be members of Ouachita Electric Cooperative.
The Arkansas group will travel to Washington via a motorcoach and return by air. Once in Washington, the students will join about 1,600 students from across the nation who are attending the tour.
Why do we do this? The answer is simple. Ouachita Electric Cooperative is committed to its members and to the communities its serves. Through the Youth Tour, we are helping Arkansas’ youth learn more about the workings of their nation’s government and the electric cooperatives, as well as develop leadership skills.
For more information, contact Angie Paxton at 870-837-3615. The deadline for entries March 26, 2010. To learn more about the Youth Tour, visit: www.ecark.org and www.youthtour.coop
Don’t miss out on this incredible, life-changing opportunity. It’s a trip of a lifetime!
Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson inspired the Youth Tour when he addressed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Annual Meeting in Chicago in 1957. The Senator and future president declared, "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."
Consequently, some Texas electric cooperatives sent groups of young people to Washington to work during the summer in Senator Johnson's office. In 1958, a rural electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored the first group of 34 young people on a week-long study tour of the nation's capital. Later that same year, another busload came to Washington from Illinois. The idea grew and other states sent busloads of young people throughout the summer. By 1959, the "Youth Tour" had grown to 130 youths.
In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested that co-op representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington, D.C. during Youth Tour week. The first year of the coordinated tour included approximately 400 young people from 12 states. Word of the program has continued to spread and today, more than 1,300 young people and their chaperones participate in the Youth Tour every year.
The statewide Youth Tour directors arrange their delegation's visits to their U.S. Representatives' and Senators' offices, federal agencies, and other educational and sightseeing activities. In addition to the planned statewide activities, the Youth Tour experience encompasses multi-state activities coordinated by NRECA.
Ouachita Electric has sponsored youth from our service area for many years. Students compete for the opportunity to participate by submitting an essay. Watch for details in the Rural Arkansas magazine for future Rural Electric Youth Tours.
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