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YOUNGSVILLE, Pa. – Current high school juniors who live in a home with electricity supplied by the Warren Electric Cooperative could earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. next summer.
The trip is being offered through the National Rural Electric Youth Tour program, sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Any student who is currently a junior in high school and whose home is provided electric service from the WEC is eligible to apply, and applications are being accepted until Jan. 17, 2024.
“Since the WEC values education and training as one of the seven cooperative principles, particularly when it concerns our community’s youth, we are prepared to send up to five students on this trip which carries approximately a $2,500 value per individual,” the WEC said in a release. “Interested students must consult with their parents and confirm that they do in fact reside in a household that receives electric service from the WEC.”
Once students obtain their parents’ WEC account number, they can apply to attend the youth tour at www.warrenec.coop/youthtour. As part of the application process, candidates will be asked to complete a 250–500-word essay discussing the following: What did a rural household look like in 1940 prior to the delivery of electric service in terms of heat, food preparation, food storage, lighting, security, and communication? The essay should conclude with a paragraph discussing the most vital use of electricity that a student uses daily (e.g., what would you miss the most if you didn’t have access to electrical service).
Completed applications must be submitted by Jan. 17, 2024. Candidates who have submitted a completed application will then be scheduled for a short interview during the first two weeks of February. Finally, students selected by the WEC Board of Directors will be notified at the end of February.
Selected delegates get the chance to meet Pennsylvania’s congressperson, see the U.S. Capitol, and tour national monuments and memorials with more than 1,800 of their peers from across the country. Sites visited often include Capitol Hill, the National Zoo, Arlington Cemetery, and the Holocaust Museum.
