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15 students from Middle Tennessee spent a week in our nation's capital last week as delegates of the 2017 Washington Youth Tour. David Shoulder From Watertown High School, Makayla Underhill and Alex Carrillo from Cannon County High School, Anna Patton and Caitlin Van Patten from Franklin High School, Cody Foster from Stewarts Creek High School, Shivani Patel from Lebanon High School, Kelsey Bruce and Ryan Decker from Eagleville High School, Juan Lopez from Mt Juliet High School, Claire Radar from Smyrna High School, Jasmine Likens from Blackman High School, Kendrick Catron from Fairview High School, Lily Marshall from Summit High School, and Matt Bobo who is homeschooled joined nearly 140 other students from across Tennessee on the weeklong trip that began on Friday, June 9.
The annual event, sponsored by the Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, provides young leaders with an opportunity to explore the nation's capital, learn about government and cooperatives and develop their leadership skills. Students were selected for the trip by writing short stories titled "Electric Cooperatives - Going Beyond the Wires" that explain how co-ops provide communities with much more than electric power.
"The Youth Tour is an incredible opportunity for these students to experience history up-close and personal," says Jay Sanders, Community Relations Coordinator for Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation. "Delegates experience a whirlwind of a week, visiting museums, monuments and other landmarks."
"We take great pride in recognizing the best and brightest from across the state," said Todd Blocker, vice president of member relations for the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association and tour director. "By recognizing their accomplishments through programs like the Washington Youth Tour, we show these leaders of tomorrow that their hometown electric co-op is more than a utility provider."
While in Washington, D.C., Tennessee's Youth Tour delegates saw the White House and memorials to past presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well as monuments honoring the sacrifices of veterans of World War II, Vietnam, and the Korean War. During visits to the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the touring Tennesseans saw and experienced natural, historical and artistic treasures. Other fun stops included historic homes of former presidents -- George Washington's Mount Vernon and Jefferson's Monticello -- as well as Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a boat cruise down the Potomac River. Among other Youth Tour highlights was a solemn and sobering visit to Arlington National Cemetery where the group laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
The group was welcomed to the U.S. Capitol by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and members of the Tennessee congressional delegation who posed for photos and answered questions.
"It's more than just a talking point," said David Callis, CEO of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. "Electric co-ops genuinely care about the prosperity of the communities we serve. The Washington Youth Tour is a small but important way for us to show these exceptional students that rural Tennessee matters. We want them to be passionate about their communities and prepared to lead when those opportunities come along."
President Lyndon Johnson inspired the Washington Youth Tour in 1957 when he encouraged electric cooperatives to send youngsters to the nation's capital. In the years since, more than 6,000 young Tennesseans have been delegates on the Washington Youth Tour.
Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative providing electricity to more than 216,000 residential and business members in Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford and Cannon counties.
Contact Jay Sanders, Community Relations Coordinator at 615-494-1065 or email Jay.Sanders@mtemc.com to learn more about the Washington Youth Tour.
