What makes electric cooperatives different from other utilities is that giving something back to the community is part of their business plan. Why do electric cooperatives bring high school students to Washington? Because it is important to learn about the political process to interact with your government. Delegates will walk away from this week as a better leader and with a sense that they can make a difference.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has brought high school students to Washington, D.C. every June since the late 1950s. High school juniors spend a week in D.C. visiting the monuments, Smithsonian, Congressional Legislation, a boat cruise on the Potomac and having a lot of fun!

The Youth Tour is a once in a life-time trip that is a good mix of fun and learning. The featured speakers during National Youth Day provide insight to the important roles electric cooperatives play in their community. Students gain a personal understanding of American History and their role as a citizen by meeting their representative and senators and exploring the sights around the nation’s capital.

Boone Electric is proud to have a long history with the Youth Tour program.

Then-Senator Lyndon Johnson inspired the Youth Tour when he addressed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Annual Meeting in Chicago in 1957. The Senator and future president declared, “If one thing goes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.”

Consequently, some Texas electric cooperatives sent groups of young people to Washington to work during the summer in Senator Johnson’s office. In 1958, a rural electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored the first group of 34 students on a weeklong study tour of the nation’s capital. Later that same year, another busload came to Washington from Illinois. By 1959, the “Youth Tour” had grown to 130 students.

In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested that co-op representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington, D.C. during Youth Tour week. The first year of the coordinated Tour included approximately 400 students from 12 states. Word of the program has continued to spread and today, more than 1,500 young students and their chaperones participate in the Youth Tour every year.