Washington, D.C. Youth Tour
2021 Youth Tour
The 2021 Youth Tour has been canceled.
Due to many concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) will not participate in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. This means Flathead Electric Co-op will not send students to Washington D.C. in 2021. In lieu of the Youth Tour, Flathead Electric and MECA will offer a different opportunity for local students.
Scholarship Essay Contest
Flathead Electric Co-op is offering an essay contest for five $1,000 one-time scholarships for future college or trade school in the state of Montana. To be eligible, students must be current high school sophomores or juniors in the Flathead Electric service territory, and their parent or guardian must be served by Flathead Electric Cooperative. Like all Flathead Electric Co-op scholarships, these awards are funded by unclaimed capital credit dollars which must be used for educational purposes in the state.
The top-rated essay will be submitted to the statewide competition for a chance to win an additional $2,500 scholarship sponsored by MECA.
To enter, students need to submit an essay in response to the question: How has reliable electricity benefited you and your community through the COVID-19 pandemic?
Enter Essay ContestAbout Youth Tour
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. sends more than 1,500 high-school students to Washington, D.C. each year to learn about the history of this country and the role electric cooperatives played in that history, and to meet with their congressional delegation. Montana sends more than 25 students each year to participate in the Youth tour at no cost to those students.
Flathead Electric Co-op offers two “all expense paid” trips to Washington, D.C. Youth Tour each year to high school sophomores or juniors from schools in the Flathead Electric service territory. The student’s parent or guardian must be served by Flathead Electric Cooperative.
Youth Tour Perspectives
Students selected often describe the trip as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” Click the buttons below to read about the highlights, as told by past participants.
The NRECA Washington D.C. Youth Tour was a once in a lifetime experience. Now that I have had some time to reflect on my week in our nation’s capital, I feel a strong desire to relive the week over and over again.
I feel honored to have shaken the hands of our Senators, Steve Daines and Jon Tester, who treated us exceptionally well. A distinct highlight of my experience was a personal nighttime tour of the Capitol Building by Congressman Greg Gianforte, who I had the honor of meeting. We were able to see D.C. from the “Speakers balcony,” watch a speech being delivered on the House of Representatives floor, and learn about the beautiful and historic features of the Capitol Building. I enjoyed talking to one of Gianforte’s aids and learning about potential future career opportunities in government.
Every single monument was breathtaking and each museum was intriguing. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been chosen for this tour and truly wish every young adult could participate in a voyage similar to the NRECA Youth Tour. Mostly, I am most grateful for the people I met while on Youth Tour. I had so much fun seeing the sights of Washington D.C. while getting to know many of the other participants.
“I am incredibly thankful to Flathead Electric Co-op for sponsoring my participation in Youth Tour. I feel more certain about my future and learned a great deal about how Co-ops support the community and our country. I will forever treasure the memories I made and the knowledge I gained at the NRECA Washington D.C. Youth Tour.”
– Liv Wilson
After finding I had been chosen to join the Washington D.C. Youth Tour as a representative of the Flathead Electric Cooperative, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the opportunity. I knew that I would get to tour many iconic landmarks in the city, I was excited to meet the Montana Senators and Congressman, and I knew I would have fun, but I also vastly underestimated how life altering this week could be. The Washington D.C. Youth Tour exposes you to the diversity of co-ops and communities across the nation, but I would never have guessed that I would see the most diversity between the delegates from Montana and North Dakota.
Having grown up in a community of 25,000 my entire life’s perception of rural had been defined by my home city; however, after meeting my new friends from the Youth Tour I quickly learned how different and diverse the idea of “rural Montana” could be. For the first time I had been given the opportunity to truly talk and ask questions about the lives of other high school students that lived in vastly different cultures. From learning that one student from Circle, Montana was in a class of 12 or that my lack of jitterbugging dance moves was abnormal to others, the youth tour helped transform my perception and understanding of the state of Montana.
Touring the Capitol, meeting our senators, reflecting on memorials and learning through interactive museums all helped me build a deeper connection and admiration for my country, but it also showed me that even from a state of 1 million people, the lives and views of those who live there can be diverse. This realization helped me view the cooperative model in a new and fascinating light because it was a working model of how business can function as a democracy and provide a necessary service that bridges the needs of many.
“I could not be more grateful to the Flathead Electric Cooperative for providing me such an amazing experience that has no doubt changed my views of the community I live in. I have been inspired to become more involved within the Co-op and I am excited to share my experience with others to help advocate for the rural needs of Montana. The NRECA Youth Tour not only exposed me to the diversity of cooperative influence in the nation, but also the incredible diversity that exists just within Montana as well. I developed a new sense of pride and understanding of my community and was able to ask questions of a perspective I hadn’t before considered. Thank you to the staff and members of the Flathead Electric Cooperative for giving youth the once in a lifetime opportunity of participating in the Washington D.C. Youth Tour.”
– Brooklyn Lamars
I have always heard about how the NRECA Washington Youth Tour trip is a trip of a lifetime. I never fully understood what people meant by that until I was able to go on this trip. This trip was full of learning experiences, along with a ton of fun. I had heard all about this trip and wonders it held from my brother, but when I was on this trip I realized that it was even better than his stories.
I enjoyed traveling with a big group, riding on buses, and keeping track of my own money and passes. On this trip I was responsible for myself and treated like an adult. In small groups we used maps to find our way to different Smithsonian museums and other memorials.
I was amazed to actually see the history and understand the stories behind the memorials. I think my favorite monument was the Martin Luther King Jr statue. I learned the story behind why the statue wasn’t finished is the sculptor wouldn’t finish it until racism was gone from America. The statue is still unfinished. Myself and many others felt the powerful message as we stood below the statue. We know that change can happen in this world if we are just patient and if we don’t give up. The monuments hold so much history and power. Being there in person cannot compare to just reading about it.
“Going to D.C was truly a once and a lifetime trip and I am very grateful for being able to go. The experiences, memories, and friends that I made will never be forgotten. I know I have come back a more knowledgeable, understanding person who is willing to stand up and make a difference.”
