High School Juniors Win Cooperative Leadership Trip

Five high school juniors were awarded 2016 Gold and Silver youth trip awards by TCEC on February 8. Sixteen students from area schools applied and 12 of them were interviewed for the for all-expense paid youth leadership trips this summer to either Washington, D.C., or Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

TCEC’s three Gold Award recipients will join 1,500 students from across the United States in Washington, D.C., to attend the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Tour from June 10-16. During this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the students will meet their elected U.S. representatives, visit national monuments and forge new friendships. The Gold Award delegates TCEC will send to Youth Tour are:

• Karlee Cotter, Guymon High School
• Braeden Fields, Guymon High School
• Nathanael Rodriguez, Hooker High School

Two silver award recipients will join 100 other students on a trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, July 16-22. The leadership camp is filled with activities such as whitewater rafting, fishing and sessions in developing leadership skills. The Silver Award delegates TCEC will send to the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp are:

• Alfonso Ortega, Guymon High School
• Hutton Parsons, Hooker High School

Following the universal Sixth Cooperative Principle of “Cooperation Among Cooperatives,” TCEC invited two people from other cooperatives to independently judge the competition. The judges were:

• Jonna Hensley, communications coordinator, Northwestern Electric Cooperative, Woodward
• Jill Bramlet, member service specialist, North Plains Electric Cooperative, Perryton, Texas

“These trips offer our youth an experience to remember for a lifetime,” said Chris Purdy, vice president, Member Solutions, at TCEC.

Anyone interested in learning more about TCEC youth trips can visit www.tcec.coop .