Youth Tour to Washington, D.C.

Experience the wonder of Washington, D.C. Join a contingent of like-minded, talented teen representatives from several Midwest cooperatives. Make new friends from across the country. Learn about rural electrification on the local, state, and federal level. Learn about cooperatives, American history, state and federal government. Visit with members of both the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Download brochure

Students will spend the week of June 11-18 visiting historically significant national sites, touring some of our most moving memorials and exploring our nation's capital. See Gettysburg, George Washington’s Valley Forge Estate, Arlington National Cemetery, the National Cathedral, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, WWII Memorial, FDR Memorial, and many, many others in Washington, D.C.

The tour is designed to provide an opportunity for outstanding young people to better understand the value of rural electrification and familiarize themselves with the historic and political environment of our nation's capital. Visits with elected officials will give teens a better understanding of federal government, the political process, and democracy in general. But perhaps most significantly, the tour gives us an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding young people from our community.

Bottom line: Rock Energy Cooperative feels like educated citizens are better citizens. And better citizens are better co-op members.

The one-week, all-expense-paid tour includes transportation, lodging, meals, and admission to events. Round-trip travel is by motor coach from Springfield, Ill., to Washington. Travel to Springfield is not included.

Applicants must be the children of Rock Energy Cooperative members and reside in the co-op’s service territory.

Get application by clicking here

How Did Youth Tour get Started?

Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson inspired the Youth Tour when he addressed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Annual Meeting in Chicago in 1957. The senator and future president declared, "If one thing goes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents."

Consequently, some Texas electric cooperatives sent groups of young people to Washington to work at Sen. Johnson's office during the summer. In 1958, a rural electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored the first group of 34 young people on a week-long study tour of the nation's capital. Later that year, another busload came to Washington from Illinois. The idea grew and other states sent busloads of young people throughout the summer. By 1959, the Youth Tour had grown to 130 youths.

In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested that co-op representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington, D.C. during Youth Tour week. The first year of the coordinated tour included about 400 young people from 12 states. Word of the program has continued to spread and today more than 1,500 young people and their chaperones participate in the Youth Tour every year.

The Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC), a Springfield, Ill., based service organization for energy and telephone cooperatives, coordinates the daily planning of all events and sites of interest for the tour. This summer will mark the 51st anniversary of the tour.