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Youth Tour Winners Bound for D.C.

2 students and an alternate were chosen to represent GCEC at Youth Tour this summer in Washington D.C. From left are Logan Fulton, chosen as an alternate, Izzie Shealy, and Kelsey Fields.

Kelsey Fields and Izzie Shealy will represent Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative (GCEC) in Washington, D.C., at June’s annual Rural Electric Youth Tour. They were selected during the cooperative’s recent competition. Logan Fulton is the alternate.

GCEC sponsors the contest for high school juniors whose parents or guardians are GCEC members. A panel of 3 judges from the electric cooperative industry interviewed contestants. The winners go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they join other rising seniors from across the United States for a tour of the nation’s capital.

Local civic organizations and high schools nominated this year’s contestants:

GCEC took 14 area students on a 2-day trip to Tallahassee, where they toured state government sites with other high school juniors representing electric co-ops from across Florida.
  • Logan Fulton, A. Crawford Mosley High School
  • Alissa Stant, Altha Public School
  • Kelsey Fields, Bay High School
  • Grace Davis, Deane Bozeman School
  • Avery Forehand, Dalkeith Volunteer Fire Department
  • Brooke Wright, Howard Creek Volunteer Fire Department
  • Madelyn Smith-Jones, Kinard Volunteer Fire Department
  • Sophia Schroeder, Overstreet Volunteer Fire Department
  • Evan Young, Port St. Joe High School
  • MaKayla Miller, Stone Mill Creek Volunteer Fire Department
  • Lauren Timmins, Wetappo Creek Volunteer Fire Department
  • Izzie Shealy, Wewahitchka High School
  • Zora Beauchamp, Wewahitchka Volunteer Fire Department
  • Aubrey Ake, Wewahitchka Woman’s Club

In February, GCEC took all nominated students on a 2-day trip to Tallahassee, where they toured state government sites with other high school juniors representing electric co-ops from across Florida.

During the Tallahassee tour, students visit the legislative chambers to learn how laws are passed in Florida.

“Youth Tour is a great opportunity for us to reward local students for being outstanding leaders in their communities,” says Kristin Douglas, Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative vice president of marketing and communications.

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

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