The 2021 Youth Tour Program in Washington D.C., and the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, have both been canceled for 2021 due to COVID-19.  High School Juniors whose primary residence is in Wheatland Electric's service territory are eligible to apply for the 2021 replacement program:  The Kansas Electric Youth (KEY) Leadership Conference. Learn more here or scroll down to access the online application.  

Youth Tour in Washington D.C.

How would you like to go on a week-long, all-expenses paid trip?  If you’re a Kansas high school student, in Wheatland's service territory, that fantasy could become reality.  2014 marked the 50th annual “Youth Tour,” which Wheatland participates in.  Each year Wheatland sends one or more students to Washington, DC to learn about our nation’s government and how rural electric cooperatives like ours interact with their legislators.

Wheatland’s representatives will join 35 other Kansas teens for a trip meant to develop their leadership skills.  First the group stops in Topeka for a look at state government.  There they meet current elected officials who themselves participated in youth tour when they were younger.  They learn more about rural electric cooperatives —with a ride up in a bucket truck as one of the highlights.

Next they head to Washington, DC where they visit with Kansas’s congressional delegation, both Senators and Members of Congress.  Youth tour also includes important stops like the Holocaust Memorial Museum, George Washington’s Mt. Vernon and Arlington National Cemetery.  There’s also room for fun with trips to the Smithsonian museums and a show at the Kennedy Center. 

Here’s what one participant had to say about his experience on Youth Tour: “I never would have dreamed of an opportunity like this and I really cannot express how beyond grateful I am. I feel so incredibly blessed! Thank you so much Wheatland Electric and all of its members!”

Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp

Every July, Wheatland Electric Cooperative and the electric cooperatives of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming send nearly 100 students to the Glen Eden Resort, located just north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado to participate in an educational and fun seminar.  The Youth Leadership Camp offers a great opportunity for high school students to learn about a cooperative, tour a generation facility, learn about government and build on communication and leadership skills.  

What will you do at camp?  You’ll visit Lookout Mountain and meet students from Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming.  You’ll form a cooperative.  Participate in the legislative forum.  Participate in the “Build a Transmission Line Competition”.  Visit Steamboat Springs and Fish Creek Falls.  Attend a high-voltage demonstration.  You’ll go rafting on the Colorado River.  Attend a camp dance.  You’ll participate in a leadership workshop and live presentation by Hawk Quest.  Play in the volleyball tournament.  Participate in the camp talent show!  Tour Trapper Coal Mine and Craig Generation Plant.  Visit Mt. Werner for the banquet and vote for Ambassadors. 

The Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp is not just another camp!  You are going to make life-long friends.  Learn about yourself and build new leadership skills that you will use forever!

Application Process

Wheatland’s Youth Tour Program is open to high school juniors (16 years of age or older) whose primary residence is in Wheatland Electric’s service territory. 

Students apply online for consideration and the top candidates are chosen.  Those students then enter into a rigorous, competitive process, writing essays, taking tests and then interviewing with a 3-judge panel.  Not only is it a great opportunity, it's great practice for life!  The Top 4 candidates are then chosen.  Wheatland Electric has the opportunity to send two students to the Youth Tour in Washington D.C. and two students to the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  The top candidate has the option to choose which they would like to attend. 

For more information regarding the Youth Tour in Washington D.C. or the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp, parents and students are encouraged to contact their high school principal or guidance counselor.

Kansas Electric Cooperative's Youth Tour Video

kids in the air

Kansas Electric Cooperative’s New Camp Video

Wheatland Electric KEY Leadership Conference Application

2021 KEY Leadership Conference Application

Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2021 Kansas Electric Youth (KEY) Leadership Conference.  This program is open to high school juniors (16 years of age or older) whose primary residence is in Wheatland Electric's service territory.  This program replaces the typical Youth Tour Program in Washington D.C. and Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, that were both cancelled in 2021 due to COVID-19.

The KEY Leadership Conference will be held the week of June 21.  Each session will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at noon central time.  A variety of speakers will present interactive workshops and each student participating will receive a box of materials prior to the start of the conference.  At the end of the conference, each student will be asked to create a short video as a final assignment.

In addition to the virtual conference, student winners will also have the opportunity to apply for the Kansas State Youth Spokesperson position.  The winner will be invited to give a short speech, whether in person or virtually, at a KEC meeting.  Also, if NRECA resumes the national Youth Leadership Council (YLC) program in 2021, the Kansas Youth Spokesperson will automatically become the Kansas representative to the YLC.

Applicants should complete the application below by 11:59 p.m. central time on Thursday, February 18, 2021  The two winners who will represent Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc., at the KEY Leadership Conference in June 2021 will be notified on March 1, 2021.

GENERAL INFORMATION
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PARENT(S) OR GUARDIAN
ESSAY