PEC restarts Youth Tour to DC; applications due Jan. 17
High school delegates representing Pedernales Electric Cooperative on their way to Washington, D.C., for the 2018 Youth Tour. The 60-year-old tradition was put on hold after the 2019 trip because of the pandemic but returns in 2023. Interested students have until Jan. 17 to apply. Courtesy photo
Ten high school students in the Pedernales Electric Cooperative service area will join 1,500 others from co-ops across the country on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., next summer as part of Youth Tour 2023. This will be the first tour since 2019.
Students who apply must:
- have parents or legal guardians who are PEC members;
- have completed their high school sophomore, junior, or senior year by June 2023;
- submit a 500-word essay on one of two topics by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023;
- and be able to travel from June 11-19, 2023.
Students will visit historical sites in the nation’s capital and meet their representatives.
PEC has participated in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour program for more than 60 years. The tour was put on hold after 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“PEC’s commitment to education and opportunity for Central Texas youth is at the core of who we are as a cooperative,” said Celeste Mikeska, PEC senior community outreach specialist, in a media release. “We’re thrilled to offer Youth Tour for the first time since the pandemic and encourage every eligible high school student to apply for this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Applicants must choose one of two following topics for their essay.
TOPIC ONE: Lyndon Baines Johnson was the founding father of Pedernales Electric Cooperative and played a major role in bringing electricity to the Texas Hill Country, providing an improved way of life for citizens and communities. Imagine if President Johnson lived in today’s digital age of social media and how this act could have “gone viral” using technology.
What act, invention, or development would you create to do good for your community and “go viral”?
TOPIC TWO: A first responder is a person with focused training who is among the first to arrive and help at the scene of an emergency. Law enforcement officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters are typically labeled as first responders. Based on your knowledge and research of the linework career, should lineworkers be considered first responders? Why or why not?
Learn more about the Youth Tour and apply on the PEC website.
