Congratulations to Brittany DeCandia (Owen County High School),Olivia Mueller (Holy Cross High School), and Erin Hertzenberg (Bishop Brossart), who will be representing Owen Electric Cooperative on the Kentucky Rural Electric Washington Youth Tour in June!

The high school juniors were selected based on outstanding academics, school and community involvement and their conduct and performance during the Frankfort Youth Tour.

During the Frankfort Youth Tour, DeCandia, Hertzenberg, and Mueller visited the Capitol, the Governor’s Mansion, the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, and the Kentucky History Center.

Throughout the afternoon, Youth Tour participants enjoyed several guest speakers, including the Honorable Alecia Webb-Edgington, a state representative for District 63; the Honorable Sara Combs, chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals; Renee Shaw, a producer and host for Kentucky Educational Television; and Megan Cummins, KEES coordinator for Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.

The Kentucky Rural Electric Washington Youth Tour is an annual, weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, that is open to select high school students whose homes are served by electric cooperatives.

Twenty-two of Kentucky’s 24 electric cooperatives participate in the Washington Youth Tour. Nationwide, electric co-ops from 46 states participate. In all, more than 1, 500 young people from across the nation gather in Washington, DC, each year for this event.

Kentucky’s electric co-ops send students to Washington, DC, for a number of reasons including:

• rewarding students for academic achievement and community leadership;

• educating students about the role of electric co-ops in the national economy;

• fostering students’ appreciation for the democratic form of government;

• exposing students to the sights and sounds of our nation’s heritage; and

• building students’ leadership skills so that they may make a difference in their communities.