Washington Youth Tour & Cooperative Youth Summit

Six local high school juniors and three sophomores are the winners of expense paid trips this summer, sponsored by Laurens Electric Cooperative.

11th graders Emma Anderson of Boiling Springs, Layla Kirksey of Greer, Josie McCotter and Luke ten Pas of Simpsonville, Max Martin of Laurens, and Noah Young of Spartanburg will attend the Washington D.C. Youth Tour with students chosen by other South Carolina co-ops where they will join more than 1,400 young people from across the country. The nation’s electric cooperatives sponsor the one-week event each June.

During their stay in Washington, the students – or delegates of the cooperative – will visit with legislators and tour sites of historical significance.

South Carolina’s electric co-ops also sponsor a state-level trip, similar to the Washington Youth Tour, called Cooperative Youth Summit.

Laurens Electric will be represented by 10th graders Brandalyn Anderson, Joseph Chantres-Chavez, and Amir Harris, all of Spartanburg, on the three-day, two-night event in Columbia in July.

Youth Summit students will engage in activities designed to teach them about electric cooperatives and the co-op business model, as well as how state government works.

Both Youth Tour and Youth Summit attendees will have the opportunity to compete for up to $5,000 in scholarships.

Students were selected from a group of local high school juniors and sophomores who completed an application and were interviewed by a panel of judges.

“We support these trips as part of our commitment to the young people in our service area, and to educate high school students about American and state history and government, as well as the history and business principles of electric cooperatives,” said Matthew Stanley, Laurens Electric’s President and CEO.

“Many past attendees have told us this was the trip of a lifetime. Congratulations!”