What is the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour?
Every June, as many as 1,500 high school students from across the country spend a week in the nation's capital as part of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. The students are sponsored by electric cooperatives – cooperatives that are committed to educating America's rural youth about America and the role electric cooperatives play in developing strong rural communities.
Youth Tour offers students going into their senior year of high school the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. for a week and experience all the beauty and history of the nation's capital. Youth Tour participants will have the opportunity to see the U.S. Capitol, meet with congressional representatives from their state, tour national monuments and memorials, and visit the National Zoo as well as the Smithsonian museums. While on the tour, the students will attend an All States Dinner Dance where they will have the chance to meet others from around the country. Best of all, Youth Tour is brought to these young people FREE OF COST!
Participating in the Youth Tour is an awesome way to learn about this great nation, develop leadership skills, gain a better understanding of electric cooperatives, and make friendships that will last beyond the week!
2018 Youth Tour Highlights from Valley Rural Electric Cooperative on Vimeo.
Video courtesy of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association, which is responsible for the content.
For more information about this exciting and informative opportunity, download the Valley REC Youth Tour Brochure (PDF, 1.1 MB) and visit the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour website.
Valley REC will not participate in 2024 Youth Tour
Valley Rural Electric Cooperative's board of directors has decided that the co-op will not participate in the 2024 Youth Tour event. Instead, Valley REC is again offering scholarships to recognize some of the outstanding high school juniors attending public, private, charter, or home-schooled programs across our eight-county service territory.
More information about these scholarships is available on the Scholarships for High School Juniors page.