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Electric Coop Youth Tour - Washington, D.C. |
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If you are a high
school junior, you could be a winner of the Rural Electric
Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. for a week during June.
It’s free, it’s exciting and it’s fun! You’ll join some 1300 high
school juniors from across the United States to learn more about
government, rural electrification, leadership and electric
cooperatives. The trip begins
with a “Get Acquainted Banquet” in Oklahoma City, where everyone
meets, makes new acquaintances and has an evening of fun. After
arriving in Washington, D.C., the tour of our nation’s capitol
includes days filled with sightseeing, a riverboat trip on the
Potomac and breakfast with Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation.
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Students also attend a series of
educational seminars to learn more about government, the cooperative
form of business, and the business of rural electrification. |
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Cimarron Electric
sponsors an annual essay contest to select students who will
represent their service area as well as the state of Oklahoma during
the Youth Tour.
The contest will
require you to prepare and submit an essay over a chosen topic.
Seven finalists are
selected by an independent panel of judges to compete at the CEC
Youth Tour Banquet. Scores are based on subject knowledge,
originality, neatness, and grammar. Finalist are required to present
their essays orally at the banquet and are each asked a question
relating to electric cooperatives from a list distributed before the
contest.
Judges at the
banquet award the Youth Tour Trip to the top three individuals at
the conclusion of the banquet. |
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Objectives of the
Youth Tour |
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The Youth Tour has three main objectives:
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To educate youths on all aspects of rural electrification in
order to promote a better understanding of the value of rural
electric cooperatives.
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To provide an opportunity for youth to visit monuments, government
buildings and cooperative-related organizations in order to become
familiar with the historical and political environment of their
nation's capital.
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To provide an opportunity for youth to meet elected officials
in order to better understand how their federal government works.
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Official Contest Rules |
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Three juniors from CEC's service area will receive an all-expense
paid trip to Washington, D.C. as winners of the Youth Tour Contest.
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Students must currently be classified as high school juniors
attending a school in CEC's nine county service area. It is not
necessary that the student's parents be members of Cimarron Electric
Cooperative, Inc.
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Contestants will be required to write an essay of approximately
500 words in length on the official topic.
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Essays must be typed and double spaced on only one side of the
paper. Each page should be numbered in the top right corner.
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Attach a completed entry form to your essay. DO NOT PUT YOUR
NAME ON THE ESSAY! All judging is done on an anonymous basis
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CEC supplies reference materials, but encourages students to
seek other sources of information, including libraries, relatives,
magazines, internet, etc.
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Essays will be judged on the basis of:
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Deadline for all essays will be announced each year.
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Be sure to keep a copy of your essay for your use should you
be selected as a finalist.
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Seven finalists will be selected to give oral presentations
of their essays during the Youth Tour banquet in the spring. Judges
will then award the Washington trip to the three highest scoring
finalists. The four runner-up students will receive $50.00 cash.
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Decisions of the judges are final.
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Resources |
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The web sites below contain facts, figures
and stories that may be helpful as you prepare your essay. IEC in
no way endorses these sites or the companies and organizations they
represent. It is the responsibility of each contestant to verify
the accuracy of all facts and figures found within these materials.
All sources used in preparing your essay must be properly cited
in the document. For more information on citing sources, we recommend
Iowa
State's online Writing Center. For links to formatting guidelines,
stylebooks and recommendations, the online
writing
center hosted by the University of Oklahoma is also helpful. |
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History of American
Electric Cooperatives |
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>
The
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
>
History
of other Oklahoma Electric Cooperatives
>
The
Rochdale Cooperative & The REA
>
The
REA and the New Deal |
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Cooperative
Information |
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>
The
University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
>
The
University of California - Davis Center for Cooperatives
>
Cooperative.org
>
The
National Cooperative Business Association
>
Understanding
Cooperatives - The USDA
>
Rural
Development in America
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For Information:
Jeff Hyatt
Member Services
(405) 375-4121 or (800) 375-4121
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