For Students

Washington Youth Tour and Cooperative Youth Summit

Two local stu­dents will be giv­en the oppor­tu­ni­ty of a life­time!  We are excit­ed to send one Junior (ris­ing Senior) to Wash­ing­ton DC for the 2025 Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour and one Sopho­more (ris­ing Junior) to our South Car­oli­na State Cap­i­tal for the 2025 Coop­er­a­tive Youth Sum­mit.

The Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour is an annu­al event offered by Coastal Elec­tric, coor­di­nat­ed by the Nation­al Rur­al Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Asso­ci­a­tion (NRECA) and the Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tives of South Car­oli­na (ECSC).  We will select a Junior stu­dent (ris­ing senior) to rep­re­sent their school, their State, and Coastal Elec­tric as del­e­gates on a week-long, all-expens­es-paid edu­ca­tion­al trip to our nation’s cap­i­tal. Par­tic­i­pants get to see the gov­ern­ment in action, vis­it his­tor­i­cal sites, learn about co-ops, and meet stu­dents from around the nation. Stu­dents rep­re­sent­ing Coastal Elec­tric are also eli­gi­ble to com­pete for the R.D. Ben­nett Col­lege Schol­ar­ship award­ed by the Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tives of South Car­oli­na and com­pete for a posi­tion on the Nation­al Youth Lead­er­ship Coun­cil.

The Coop­er­a­tive Youth Sum­mit is a four-day, three-night event held in Colum­bia. The cho­sen stu­dent has the chance to enhance their lead­er­ship skills, engage in team-build­ing exer­cis­es, learn about elec­tric coop­er­a­tives and how state gov­ern­ment works, and spend time with oth­er coop­er­a­tive stu­dents from across the entire state.

More than 1,800 stu­dents from across the coun­try par­tic­i­pat­ed in 2024. South Car­oli­na sent 57 Stu­dents total.

The application process will begin February 10, 2025.  All applications must be submitted on or before Monday, March 10, 2025.

To learn more about these two amaz­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, con­tact Saman­tha Jones at 843–538-9434.  Infor­ma­tion on these trips and pre­vi­ous trips may also be found by vis­it­ing www.youthtour.coop and www.ecsc.org/washington-youth-tour

Paper appli­ca­tions are avail­able upon request at the coop­er­a­tive.