Each year Park Electric sponsors a student to the National Rural Electric's Youth to Washington, D.C. Tour. For a week in June a group of talented Montana high school students and their chaperones join hundreds of other kids from across the nation on the trip of a lifetime.

Sophomore and junior high school students are eligible to win by entering an essay contest held in the fall. Winners are announced at the end of January.

For the 2013 Youth Tour, essays are due in Park Electric's office by November 30, 2012. The Tour is scheduled for June 15-21, 2013.To enter please write an essay on the following topic. Essays must be no longer than two double-spaced typed pages.

"Cooperatives are member-owned and controlled.  As a future decision maker for your cooperative, describe the best ways we can connect and communicate with you."

Youth Tour Contest Rules

1. The student must be a sophomore or junior in the fall of 2013.
2. Student cannot be a prior winner of the Youth Tour.
3. The student must write an essay on a topic chosen by the MECA committee - Topic for 2013 is above. Essays must include a cover page with the student's name, address and phone number.
4. Download and fill out the Youth Tour Application
5. Drop off the essay at 5705 US Hwy 89 South or mail it to Park Electric, P.O. Box 1119, Livingston, MT 59047.

More Info

Check out the following web page for great information on this year's tour:

• National Youth Tour Web Page

What can you expect if you're the winner? Well, read on!

The trip begins at the Montana Electric Cooperatives' Association office in Great Falls. Making new friends with those who will be with you over the next week is the first order of business. The following morning you'll gather at the Great Falls airport. Once arriving in Washington D.C. approximately 1,500 other students from across the nation will join you at the same hotel. Yes, you will have plenty of time to make even more friends.

While in D.C. you will arise very early every morning to prepare for the day's events. You will visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Woman's Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, attend a theater performance, visit the Pentagon City Mall, take part in a Youth Day Town Hall meeting, tour the National Cathedral, tour the Smithsonian Museums, stop by the Hard Rock Café, enjoy a Moonlight Cruise and Dance on the Potomac River, visit your state congressional representatives, tour the Capitol, visit the Marine Corps Iwo Jima Memorial, watch the Marine Corps Silent Drill and Parade team, visit the Lincoln Memorial and the Roosevelt Memorial, view the White House, tour Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, watch the Changing of the Guard, visit the Kennedy grave sites, visit the Smithsonian National Zoo, visit the International Spy Museum, and finally go to the Washington Monument. After all this you board your plane and fly home. Now, how is that for a free trip?

For additional information or questions please contact Toni Cody at 222-3100.