Three students from Tri-County Electric’s service area got the opportunity of a lifetime to spend a week in our nation’s capital as delegates of the 2024 Washington Youth Tour. Erin Meadows, Clay County High School, Siara Chyle, Red Boiling Springs High School, and Samantha Law, Macon County High School, were among 139 students from across Tennessee on the weeklong trip that began Friday, June 14th. Lindsay Wilkinson, Marketing Assistant, and James Franklin, Clay County High School teacher, chaperoned the juniors on the trip.
This annual 
event is sponsored by Tri-County Electric and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. The students were selected for the trip by writing a short story titled “Co-ops Connect” that explains how co-ops connect Tennessee communities with energy, education, broadband, economic development and more.
“Chaperoning the best and brightest of Tri-County Electric’s service area on a trip of a lifetime to Washington, D.C., each year is a highlight of my job here at Tri-County Electric,” said Lindsay Wilkinson, Marketing Assistant and chaperone on the 2024 Washington Youth Tour. “This year’s delegates represented Tri-County Electric well at our nation’s capital and are coming back home with the knowledge and leadership skills to become future leaders in their communities.”
The Washington Youth Tour’s nonstop, seven-day itinerary is jam-packed with places to visit and experiences to give the Youth Tour delegates a trip that they will never forget. Highlights include a guided memorials tour around the city, visiting museums at the Smithsonian Institute, touring Washington’s Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s Monticello and taking a trip to Arlington National Cemetery. Delegates also got to see Washington, D.C., staples like the White House, U.S. Capitol and the Washington National Cathedral.
While in D.C., winners were announced in the statewide competition for the Robert McCarty Memorial Scholarships for having the first, second and third place papers of the thousands of papers submitted across the state for this year’s contest. The scholarships are named in memory of Robert McCarty, an employee of Volunteer Energy Cooperative and longtime chaperone on the annual Youth Tour.
Yuridia Garcia, a senior from Appalachian Electric Cooperative, was awarded a $10,000 Cooperative Youth Ambassador Scholarship. Garcia was a 2023 delegate on the Washington Youth Tour. Delegates who remain engaged with their sponsoring cooperative during their senior year and complete certain community service requirements are eligible for the scholarship. Garcia’s name was randomly selected among the delegates from across the state who completed the requirements.
“We are owned by our members, and it’s important that our member-owners understand how that make us different,” says Tri-County Electric CEO Paul Thompson. “Our communities need strong leadership, and the youth tour is one way we can help prepare students for the roles they may one day fill.”
The Washington Youth Tour was inspired by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1957 when he encouraged electric cooperatives to send young people to the nation’s capital. Since then, more than 6,000 young Tennesseans have participated in the Washington Youth Tour as delegates.
Abriana Romero, Trousdale County High School, $1,000 scholarship winner. From left, Lindsay Wilkinson, Marketing Assistant; Abriana Romero; and Paul Thompson, CEO.
