Washington Youth Tour
High school juniors attending a school located in a county served by Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative (Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lewis and Perry) are eligible to win an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in June.
This fun, educational trip will be well chaperoned and will include visits to many historical landmarks in our nation's capital. Some of the sites include Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Capitol, Washington National Cathedral, Holocaust Museum, Ford's Theatre, Peterson House, Arlington National Cemetery, Union Station, and Vietnam and Korean Memorials.
MLEC sponsors the Rural Electric Youth Tour, along with other cooperatives from across the state. Students are asked to write a 900-word, short story on a topic related to electric cooperatives. (The topic is announced each September.) The short story is graded on originality, knowledge of subject, grammar and treatment of theme.
The top student from each school will win the expense-paid trip to Washington. Additionally, the girl and boy at each high school receiving the highest score will win a $1000 scholarship. (Scholarship winners must reside in a home served electricity by MLEC.) The overall student in MLEC's service area will also compete for statewide scholarships of $3000, $2000 and $1000.
Junior English teachers are given the program material to aid students in writing a short story. No additional resources are needed to write the story other than the program booklet. However, MLEC makes available information requested by the students to help them further understand the theme. This Web site is a great source of information on the services and programs offered by MLEC, our rates and detailed community involvement.
For samples of past short stories or additional questions, contact MLEC Member Services Supervisor Vanessa Clayborn at vanessa.clayborn@mlec.com or (931) 729-7232.
(Eleventh grade home-schooled students are also eligible.)
You can learn more about the Youth Tour by clicking below:
WYT Questions and Answers
WYT Booklet