Each year, ECI REC pays the way for two high school juniors to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. The 2019 event will take place June 14–20. To be eligible for Youth Tour, students must be heading into their junior year of high school and have parents or legal guardians who are members of ECI REC. Applications can be found on our Youth Tour page and are due Wednesday, February 27, 2019.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has grown exponentially since its inception over 50 years ago. In 2018, more = than 1,800 students from across the nation participated. The week is interspersed with visits to many D.C. monuments and sites, including Capitol Hill and the Smithsonian Museum. Students also have the opportunity to meet with members of their state’s congressional delegation and discuss issues with them. This meeting is always a major highlight of the program.

Youth Tour is one of the most important programs ECI REC takes part in. We are constantly impressed by the caliber of students our Cooperative sponsors. In 2011, Belle Plaine student Connor Roth, a 2010 Youth Tour alum, was chosen to represent Iowa on the Youth Leadership Council. Connor worked at the NRECA Congressional Action Center during the group’s annual meeting, encouraging cooperative members to contact their senators and representatives about key co-op issues. Another Youth Tour alum, Dalton Schmit, was chosen to participate in the 2013 Iowa General Assembly Legislative Page program and helped plan activities for the 2014 Youth Tour trip. Dalton also interned for Senator Tom Harkin in 2014 and at the White House in 2017.

Our teens are our future, and our future is looking brighter every day. For more information about the Youth Tour program, email us at iowayouthtour@ecirec.coop or call us toll free at 877-850-4343.