If you are a high school junior in the Indian Electric Cooperative service area, you could be a winner of the Rural Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. for a week during June.

It’s free, it’s exciting and it’s fun! You’ll join some 1500 high school juniors from across the United States to learn more about government, rural electrification, leadership and electric cooperatives and have fun. 

The trip begins with a “Get Acquainted Banquet” in Oklahoma City, where everyone meets, makes new acquaintances and has an evening of fun. After arriving in Washington, D.C., the tour of our nation’s capitol includes days filled with sightseeing, a riverboat trip on the Potomac and breakfast with Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation. Students also attend a series of educational seminars to learn more about government, the cooperative form of business, and the business of rural electrification.

Indian Electric sponsors an annual essay contest to select two students who will represent their service area as well as the state of Oklahoma during the Washington D.C. Youth Tour trip.  Indian Electric also selects two runners-up.  The two runners-up win a trip to Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp (CYLC) in July.  CYLC is in Glen Eden, Colorado, near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The Youth Tour has three main objectives:

• To educate youths on all aspects of rural electrification in order to promote a better understanding of the value of rural electric cooperatives.
• To provide an opportunity for youth to visit monuments, government buildings and cooperative-related organizations in order to become familiar with the historical and political environment of their nation's capital.
• To provide an opportunity for youth to meet elected officials in order to better understand how their federal government works.

The 2010 Youth Tour will take place on June 11 through 17.

• Two juniors from IEC's service area will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. as winners of the Youth Tour Contest.
• Students must currently be classified as high school juniors attending a school in IEC's service area. It is not necessary that the student's parents be members of Indian Electric Cooperative, Inc.
• Contestants will be required to write an essay of 500 - 1000 words in length on the topic: "Red, White and Green – Why Do Electric Cooperatives Support Energy Efficiency in America?".
• Essays must include an explanation of the electric cooperative business structure.
• Essays must be typed and double spaced on only one side of the paper. Each page should be numbered in the top right corner.
• Attach a completed entry form to your essay. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE ESSAY! All judging is done on an anonymous basis.
• IEC supplies reference materials, but encourages students to seek other sources of information, including libraries, relatives, magazines, Internet, www.takecontrolandsave.coop, etc.
• Essays will be judged on the basis of
  • Knowledge of subject - 40%
  • Originality - 30%
  • Composition - 15%
  • Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - 15%
• Deadline for all essays is Noon on Thursday February 9, 2010. Be sure to keep a copy of your essay for your use should you be selected as a finalist.
• Four finalists will be selected to give oral presentations of their essays during the Youth Tour banquet in the spring. Judges will then award the Washington trip to the two highest scoring finalists.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Children of IEC employees and IEC Trustees are NOT eligible to participate in the Youth Tour competition.
• Dates for the 2010 Youth Tour are June 11-17, 2010.
• Dates for the 2010 Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp are July 10-16, 2010.

• Download Printable Copy of 2010 Official Rules (PDF)
• Download Printable Copy of 2010 Official Entry Form (PDF)
• Download Printable Copy of Co-op Questions and Answers (PDF)
• Download Printable Copy of 2010 Youth Resource Manual (PDF) ~1MB

Students classified as High School Juniors at the following schools are eligible to participate in the 2010 IEC Youth Tour Contest.

Children of IEC employees and IEC Trustees are NOT eligible to participate in the Youth Tour competition.

The web sites below contain facts, figures and stories that may be helpful as you prepare your essay. IEC in no way endorses these sites or the companies and organizations they represent. It is the responsibility of each contestant to verify the accuracy of all facts and figures found within these materials.

HISTORY OF AMERICAN ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES

• Indian Electric Cooperative's History
• The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• The REA and the New Deal

COOPERATIVE INFORMATION

• Take Control and Save website
• The National Cooperative Business Association
• Understanding Cooperatives - The USDA
• Rural Development in America

For more information contact:
Clara Eulert
IEC Youth Tour Coordinator
P.O. Box 49
Cleveland, OK 74020
(918)295-9558