SCOTT CITY–Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WEC) congratulates Brinlie Stevens, junior at Scott Community High School, and Ashlyn Howard, junior at Great Bend High School. These two outstanding students were selected to serve as the delegates representing WEC at the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour this summer and were recognized at WEC’s annual meeting and 75th anniversary celebration in Scott City, Kan. on April 26, 2023.
Eligible students completed an online application, including a written essay about a family, social, or school situation in which their leadership made the difference. Based on their applications, Stevens and Howard were selected as finalists. After an extensive interview, they were selected as the two winners by the WEC Board of Trustees.
“One situation where I used my leadership skills to make a difference in my community was when I recruited girls for my high school’s cross-country team…I organized team bonding activities like cookouts, outdoor movies, hiking, and hide and seek, which made the new team members feel comfortable and welcome. The team aspect of cross country is important to me,” wrote Stevens.
Howard wrote, “Kindness and encouragement are easy to spread; you may have to start and be the first to do so. As I’ve encouraged others and faced some of my fears, I’ve grown from the person I was last year.”
The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour flies students to Washington, D.C., providing Stevens and Howard with the opportunity to meet their Congressional Representatives and Senators on Capitol Hill, meet with nationally recognized speakers to talk about current topics important to rural communities, tour national historic landmarks and museums, attend a performance at the Kennedy Center, cruse on the Potomac River, and build meaningful connections with other youth leaders from across the country.
Youth Tour is a life-changing trip that brings more than a thousand high school juniors and seniors to Washington, D.C. from all across America, courtesy of their local sponsoring electric cooperative, their state association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Over the years, these delegates have met with their elected officials and explored Capitol Hill. They have learned about the impact electric cooperatives have on their communities as well as how programs like NRECA International are impacting lives around the world.
Applications for the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. and Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp in Steamboat Springs are accepted each year beginning in November and must be received by the January deadline. High school juniors who reside in WEC’s service territory that are a legal dependent of an active member receiving service from WEC are eligible to apply. See our website for more information.
