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2002 National Youth Tour Ambassadors
The 2002 Youth Tour ambassadors representing Wheat Belt PPD in Washington D.C. are Heather Swanson of Dalton and Ben Peetz of Sidney.
The Rural Electric Youth Tour brings more than 1,300 high school students to Washington, D.C., every year, since the early 1960s. To date, 40,000 students from rural areas and small towns all over America have participated in this unique program. |
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Students on the tour learn about electric cooperatives, American history, and U.S. government. They attend educational seminars, visit with their representatives in the House and the Senate, and see the sights around Washington, DC.
Also while on tour, the ambassadors may compete for a position on the National Youth Leadership Council. Each state at the tour selects one delegate to represent their state on the council. This group of bright and talented youth meets later in the year in Lincoln, Nebraska for the annual Youth Leadership Conference. |
The purpose of the YLC conference is to build leadership skills, public speaking skills, and enhance the delegates' knowledge of the energy industry and the cooperative form of business. These students also make presentations at their statewide and local cooperative annual meetings.
A benefit to serving on the YLC is that the representatives are given the opportunity to attend and participate in the NRECA resolutions process during NRECA's Annual Meeting. Also, the YLC selects a national spokesperson to address the membership at the NRECA Annual Meeting and the Youth Tour delegates the following year.
To qualify as an applicant for the Youth Tour, Swanson and Peetz both attended Youth Energy Camp within the last two years. Additionally, they filled out applications forms, wrote an essay and interviewed with a selection committee.
If you would like more information about Youth Energy Camp or the National Youth Tour, please contact Pam Wieser at Wheat Belt.
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