Wiregrass Electric Sponsors Two Students On Washington Youth Tour

Marty Bowden

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Posted by: Marty Bowden
martybowden7@gmail.com
334-248-1584
Date: Jun 28 2012 1:37 PM

Jean Elizabeth Miles and Colton Cureton of Rehobeth recently participated in the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program in Washington, D.C. sponsored by Wiregrass Electric Cooperative.  They spent a week in Washington, D.C., with forty-three peers from throughout Alabama.

Each year in June, an action-filled week provides high school students opportunities to learn first-hand what it is like to be involved in politics, community service and today’s pressing issues in the energy industry. Students met their elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, saw historic sites, and met over 1,500 students from across the country who participated in their state’s Youth Tour program.

                The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has been a joint effort of local electric co-ops, such as Wiregrass Electric, Alabama Rural Electric Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), based in Arlington, Va., for 48 years.

                Both students said they had the experience of a lifetime meeting with peers from other states and NRECA staff during the Washington trip.

“My favorite part was being able to lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and touring Arlington National Cemetery,” said Miles. “The trip opened my eyes to true sacrifice and the fact that our freedom is not free. I feel so blessed to have been selected to go see some of the best our nation has to offer.”

The youth tour was a wonderful experience,” Cureton said. “I learned so much about our cooperative, state and country that would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Wiregrass Electric.”

In addition to taking in the sights of the nation’s capital, all the state groups convened for National Youth Day, sponsored by NRECA, to learn from public figures and other inspirational speakers. This year’s Youth Day agenda included Mike Schlappi, a four-time Paralympic Medallist and two-time world Champion Wheelchair Basketball champion. Schlappi shares his inspiring message for every American, young or old: “Just because you can’t stand up, doesn’t mean you can’t stand out.”

For more information on how you can participate in Wiregrass Electric Cooperative’s Washington Youth Tour program, visit www.wiregrass.coop/myCommunity/leadership/youthTour.aspx.

Since 1964, the nation’s cooperative electric utilities have sponsored more than 50,000 high school juniors and seniors for visits to their U.S. congressional delegations, energy and grassroots government education sessions, and sightseeing in Washington. NRECA is the national service organization representing the nation’s more than 900 consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to 42 million people in 47 states.

For more information about the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour Program, please visit http://www.youthtour.coop.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution system located in Southeast Alabama with more than 3,500 miles of power lines providing reliable and affordable electricity and energy solutions to approximately 23,000 homes and businesses in Houston, Geneva, Covington, Dale and Coffee counties.  For additional information, please visit www.wiregrass.coop.

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