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August 2008 Along Those Lines
Passing a torch
Record number of students participate in annual trip
A record number of high school seniors-to-be boarded two motor coaches in Indianapolis in June for the annual Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. This year, 74 students representing 30 of the state’s 39 electric cooperatives, participated.
This is the 49th year that Indiana’s electric cooperatives have participated in the Youth Tour which has given thousands of young Hoosiers the opportunity to visit our nation’s capital to learn about government and electric cooperatives.
The trip began June 12 and returned to Indianapolis June 19.
Nearly 1,500 students, sponsored by electric cooperatives across the country, were in Washington for the tour. During the “Youth Tour Rally,” students from all states gathered to learn the history of rural electrification from David Landis, a state senator from Nebraska portraying U.S. Senator George W. Norris, also of Nebraska. Norris shepherded the legislation that led to the founding of electric cooperatives in the 1930s.
Keynote speaker, four-time Olympic medalist in USA Men’s wheelchair basketball, Mike Schlappi, proved “You don’t have to stand up to stand out.”
Another highlight was a visit to Capitol Hill where two members of Indiana’s congressional delegation, Rep. Brad Ellsworth and Rep. Joe Donnelly, spoke to the students.
 Indiana’s 2008 Youth Tour group assembles for a photo along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. This year’s group included 74 high school seniors-to-be from all corners of the state. Indiana’s electric cooperatives have been sending youth on the trip to D.C. every year since 1960.
 Youth Tour members photograph the eternal flame at the gravesite of John F. Kennedy. The tour includes many memorable events, but few are as moving as the visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
 During a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield, Joy Hunt, sponsored by RushShelby Energy, helps the group’s personal tour guide hold up a sketch of the battlefield and the front lines as he explains how the three-day battle unfolded in July of 1863.
The Youth Tour highway
 Indiana’s electric cooperatives took 74 high school seniors-to-be to Washington in June. Students gathered in Indianapolis June 12 and left for Washington June 13. The tour returned June 19.
In between, the tour visited the Indiana Statehouse, Gettysburg battlefield; Baltimore’s Inner Harbor; and many of the monuments, museums and memorials in Washington.
2008 participants
Here’s a list of this year’s participating co-ops and the students each sent:
Bartholomew County REMC: Kimberly Lewis, Ashton Wischmeier;
Carroll County REMC: Hannah Strasser;
Clark County REMC: CallieBurgin, Michael Collins, Matthew Owen, Whitney Popp, Andrea Rademacher, Jennifer Schindler;
Decatur County REMC: Stefani Baker, Audrey Huffmeyer;
Dubois REC: Kaci Verkamp; Fulton County REMC: McKenna Harmon, Amanda Lease;
Harrison REMC: Kelsey Pennington, Lauren Smith, Caroline Turcotte
Hendricks Power Cooperative: Matthew Hollars;
Jackson County REMC: Leslie Hoar, Joshua Kamman, Courtney Williams;
Jasper County REMC: Addie Dobson, Kourtney Frieden, Ashley Hudspeth, Cecelia Neihouser, Megan Wagner, Kelsey Witt;
Johnson County REMC: Monica Creech, Grace Endris, Amanda Workman;
Kankakee Valley REMC: Molly Marshall, Spencer Schafer;
Kosciusko REMC: Brittany Maull;
LaGrange County REMC: Randon McMaster, Reece McMaster;
Marshall County REMC: Adam Calhoun, Kasey Greer, Alexander Master;
Miami-Cass REMC: Bodie Kitchel, Amanda Moore;
Noble REMC: Jessi Hosford, Erin Simon;
Northeastern REMC: Priyanka Parekh, Abby Pettigrew;
Orange County REMC: Amanda Brinkman, Elizabeth Thomas, Arin Wesner;
RushShelby Energy: Elizabeth Giesting, Joy Hunt, Katie Ross, Stephanie Smith;
South Central Indiana REMC: Lauren Busch;
Southeastern Indiana REMC: Cody Geisler, Kendra Morin, Justin Posey, Tanaha Simon;
Southern Indiana Power: Krista Evrard, April Sherman;
Steuben County REMC: Ashley Bookwalter, Theresa McHugh;
Tipmont REMC: John Patrick Burns, Ethan Chitty, Kelsey Faulkner, Morgan Fouty, Tyler King, Michael Weesner;
UDWI REMC: Levi Baysinger, Nicole Butler, Rachel Mowery, Rachael Rush;
Wabash County REMC: Josi Cripe;
White County REMC: Bethany Foerg;
Whitewater Valley REMC: Robert Mersch;
WIN Energy REMC: Danielle Schuster.
Co-op education continues
 Youth Tour delegate Caroline Turcotte, sponsored by Harrison REMC, will be Indiana’s representative to the Youth Leadership Council. The program of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association offers one representative from each state more leadership training, a return trip to Washington (which was in July), and a trip to the national meeting in New Orleans next February.
See more photos from the 2008 Indiana Youth Tour here!
Written By: eceditor
Date Posted: 7/28/2008
Number of Views: 246
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