Contact: NOVEC Public Relations, 1-888-335-0500, customerservice@novec.com
NORTHERN VIRGINIA – The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative took five area students to Washington, D.C., in June to watch government in action. The selected students joined some 1,400 other students from across the nation at the 2012 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Tour.
“It’s a small world, and you’d be surprised what you have in common with people all over the country,” states Tamanna Sahni from Freedom High School, Loudoun County, in the August 2012 issue of Cooperative Living magazine. “The Youth Tour was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
Darby Carlson, a home-schooled student from Fauquier County, exclaims, “Meeting people from all across the country was great!”
Caroline Gellene from Battlefield High School in Prince William County says, “I met so many amazing people from around the country. Talking to other people, who have an interest in government, as well as hearing their questions and talking to our local congressional representative really increased and sparked my own interest in government. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing a part in governing our country in the future.”
Tony Mason III, a home-schooled student, and Effie Smith from Osbourn Park High School – both from Prince William County – also participated as NOVEC representatives.
During the June 17-21 tour, students visited sites and museums that are the warp and weft yarns of American history, such as the National Archives and Mount Vernon. They met their representatives on Capitol Hill and discussed issues that are important to them and to electric cooperatives. The students visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. and F.D. Roosevelt memorials.
NOVEC selected the students based on their grades, written essays, and their interests in government. The Co-op encouraged home-schooled, private school, and public school students to participate. The students’ families receive electricity from NOVEC.
Lyndon Baines Johnson encouraged electric cooperatives to send students to “the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents." President Johnson’s idea grew into the NRECA Youth Tour in 1964. Since then, more than 40,000 students have participated in the all-expenses-paid tour.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NRECA, represents more than 900 consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives in the United States. For more information about the NRECA Youth Tour Program, visit www.youthtour.coop.
