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GCEC Rewards Students With Tallahassee Trip

GCEC’s live line safety demonstration trailer traveled to Tallahassee.

Emily Rollins and Taylor Schreiber will represent Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative (GCEC) in Washington, D.C., at June’s annual Rural Electric Youth Tour. The 2 were selected in the cooperative’s recent competition. Grant Hutchins is the alternate.

The co-op sponsors the contest for high school juniors whose parents or guardians are GCEC members.

A panel of 3 judges from the electric cooperative industry interviews contestants. 2 winners are chosen for an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they join seniors-to-be from across the United States for a tour of the nation’s capital.

Local civic organizations and high schools nominate students for the trip. This year’s contestants and the organizations they represented were:

  • Zoey Ake, Wewahitchka Woman’s Club.
  • Jalyan Badillo, Howard Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
  • Amelia Boobyer, A. Crawford Mosley High School.
  • Isaac Dean, Deane Bozeman School.
  • Keersten Easter, Dalkeith Volunteer Fire Department.
  • Laiken Ferrell, Wewahitchka High School.
  • Taylor Hollis, Kinard Volunteer Fire Department.
  • Wyatt Husband, Wewahitchka Volunteer Fire Department.
  • Grant Hutchins, Altha Public School.
  • Andrea Prescott, Gulf County EMS.
  • Emily Rollins, Bay High School.
  • Taylor Schreiber, Wetappo Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
Part of the 2-day tour included a mock session in the Senate chambers. 2 students were chosen to represent Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative on the Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., in June: Taylor Schreiber, left, and Emily Rollins, right. An alternate, Grant Hutchins, was also chosen.

GCEC took all nominated students on a 2-day trip to Tallahassee in February. They toured sites in the state capital with other high school juniors representing electric co-ops from across the state.

On the first day of the trip, students toured Florida State University, followed by a presentation by representatives of FSU, Florida A&M University, and Tallahassee Community College. The students then viewed a demonstration of Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative’s live line safety demonstration trailer. The day ended with a visit to District 850.

The next day, the group had mock sessions in the House and Senate chambers and a tour of Florida’s Historic Capitol.

“Youth Tour is a great opportunity for us to reward local students for being outstanding leaders in their communities,” says GCEC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Kristin Douglas.

The Rural Electric Youth Tour program started in 1957 when co-ops sent students to Washington, D.C., to work during the summer. By 1964, the program caught on, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association began coordinating the effort.

Since then, thousands of young people have experienced this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit our nation’s capital and learn about cooperatives and the nation’s government.

This year’s Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., is June 16 through 21.